Walking Tour of Maasin City (Southern Leyte)

Having just had a Jollibee merienda at Baybay City, I decided to forego taking lunch and proceed on my own with my ocular walking tour of the city.  It was quite hot and sunny and I decided to leave my jacket at Dood’s Honda City, a decision I was  to regret later.  I had no idea what Doods did while I was away.

City Hall

The city proper was concentrated on two main streets: R.K. Kangleon St. and Tomas Oppus St. and all around it were the city hall, public market, schools, banks, inns, restaurants, churches and bus, jeepney and tricycle terminals.  Minutes into my walking tour, it began to rain and I had to wait it out in the shade before continuing on my way.  Leyte’s weather is really fickle, sunny one minute and rainy the next.

Busy Tomas Oppus Street

Much further away was the Provincial Government Center, Maasin City being the capital of the province.  Located here were the Provincial Capitol building and other provincial government offices around a park. To get there, I had to take a tricycle.  Before going back to Tacloban City (a further 185-km./4-hr. drive away), Doods and I had a late lunch at San Pedro Lechon Manok. 

The Provincial Capitol Building

Maasin City Investment, Promotions and Tourism Office: City Hall, Maasin City, Southern Leyte.  Tel: (053) 381-2138.

 

Cathedral of Our Lady of Assumption (Maasin City, Southern Leyte)

From Hilongos, Maasin City was just a further 37 kms.away, past the towns of Bato and Matalom. Doods and I finally reached city by 12:30 PM and Doods conveniently parked the car in front of the city’s Spanish-era Cathedral of Our Lady of Assumption.  This church was started in 1771 by Jesuit Fr. Serapio Gonzalez, continued by Fr. Jose Paco from 1839 to 1852, destroyed by fire in 1884 and later rebuilt.  In 1968, the church was made into a cathedral and, in 1993, the cathedral was made a National Shrine by the National Historical Institute.

 Cathedral of Our Lady of Assumption

Its simple, sparsely-decorated Early Renaissance façade has a semicircular arched main entrance flanked by narrow paired columns, a pediment with a centrally located a statued niche flanked by square windows and topped by a circular window.  On its right is a tall and slender 3-storey bell tower and surrounding the church is a fortification with quadrilateral bulwarks at the corners. Part of the fortification has been demolished to give way to a school. A bulwark on the western side of the site has the inscription “San Carlos Año de 1781.” Inside the cathedral are Spanish-era images and santos found in its altar and ceiling.

The cathedral’s interior