Category Archives: Architecture

Leal Senado Square (Macau)

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After our tour of Macau Fisherman’s Wharf, we returned to our bus which brought us to the Metro Park Hotel for lunch.  After lunch, Grace, Dad and Mom were to be brought back to the Venetian while Jandy, Cheska and I asked to be dropped off at Leal Senado Square (Largo do Leal Senado), our starting point for our own tour of Macau’s churches.

Leal Senado Square

Here, we got the best rate for exchanging Philippine pesos to Macau Patakas or MOP$, doing so on the recommendation of a Filipino kababayan doing the same thing.  Macau has a sizeable Filipino community (officially 2% of Macau’s population) working in casinos (including the Venetian), retail outlets, restaurants, transport companies and even in the airport where there is a need for amiable, hard-working and English-speaking staff.  Aside from telling me which money changer to go to, they were also helpful sources of information (we had a hard time talking to the Chinese natives in English) on where the free shuttles are parked, where to buy certain goods, directions to tourist spots, etc.

Leal Senado Square at Night

The postcard-pretty Leal Senado Square, part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site “Historic Center of Macau,” has been Macau’s urban center for centuries. In the past, this Portuguese-style piazza was where the governors inspected military troops and the police force when they took up their posts. The square is still the most popular venue for public events and celebrations today.

The Square is Filled with Boutiques and Restaurants

It has coffee shops (Starbucks), restaurants (including a MacDonalds), market lanes and shops (garments, lingerie, fashion ware, kids clothes, accessories, sportswear, shoes, etc.) and is always filled with people and tourists, whether day or night.

Macau Business Tourism Centre

Located close to the former Senate building (now the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau Building), the 3,700 sq. m. square is surrounded by pastel-colored, Neo-Classical buildings, creating a consistent and harmonious Mediterranean atmosphere.  They include the Macau General Post Office Building, the Church of St. Dominic and the Holy House of Mercy (Santa Casa da Misericórdia) which was being renovated during our visit. At the center of the square is a beautiful fountain.

Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro

Its pavement is a beautiful wave-patterned mosaic of colored stones created by Portuguese experts. From Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro to the Church of St. Dominic, the pavement extends to the Ruins of St. Paul’s, making the heart of the city a pedestrian paradise. Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro, built in 1918 to link Praia Grande with the Inner Harbour, passes through the old “Christian Quarter” and “Chinatown.”

The Square’s Beautiful Fountain

The Macau General Post Office Building, completed in 1929, has also been selected as a building of architectural and artistic value. It was designed by a Chinese architect, Chen Kunpei, and was built on the site of Tong Sin Tong, a Chinese charitable institution that consisted of some small low houses. The Post Office is the only grand project to have been built along the lines of Classical architecture, and it stands 3 storeys high, with a basement, constructed entirely of cement.

Macau General Post Office Building

St. Dominic Church and Treasures of Sacred Heart Museum (Macau)

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When we were in Largo do Leal Senado, my kids and I visited the Church of St. Dominic, situated right in the middle of the  square.  Built in 1587 by 3 Spanish Dominican priests, it is one of the most beautiful churches in Macau.   Originally built in wood, it was, in 1828, rebuilt in stone and was restored in 1994.

St. Dominic Church

The first Portuguese newspaper, A Abelha da China (The China Bee), was published here in 1822.   The church’s basic layout is influenced by both Portuguese and Spanish styles and its architecture is Jesuit Mannerist. The church is now part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Historic Centre of Macau.

St. Dominic Church – Interior

We also dropped by bell tower at the back which was modified into the small Treasure of Sacred Art Museum. On the right side of the church is the sacristy (dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary), the only surviving part of the old monastery/convent that was built with the church.  Here, we went up the stairs that lead to the museum located at second and third floors.

Treasure of Sacred Art Museum – Exhibit

When the Religious Orders were abolished in Portugal in 1834, the museum received many articles of sacred art that are now presently displayed. The museum, opened to visitors in 1997, occupies what is left of the ancient cloister and also the other rooms that are still connected to the church.

Treasure of Sacred Art Museum – Exhibit

There are approximately 300 pieces of excellent quality artifacts, many of which are also from Macau. that date back from the 17th to the 19th centuries.  The rich collection includes gold objects, statues, richly ornamented canonicals, religious paintings and other liturgical vessels.

Ruins of St. Paul’s (Macau)

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The last destination in our city tour is St. Paul’s (Rua de Sao Paolo), the greatest of Macau’s churches and the major landmark of Macau. Built from 1582 to 1602 by the Jesuits, this church was dedicated to St. Paul the Apostle and was the largest Catholic church in Asia at the time. A fire started in the kitchens, during a typhoon, destroyed the body of the church in 1835.

Ruins of St. Paul’s

Now in ruins, all that remained was the magnificent, intricately carved stone facade (built from 1620 to 1627 by Japanese Christian exiles and local craftsmen under the direction of Italian Jesuit Fr. Carlo Spinola), the crypts of the Jesuits who established and maintained the cathedral, and the grand, 66-step staircase.

To preserves its aesthetic integrity, the facade is now buttressed with concrete and steel and a steel stairway allows tourists to climb up to the top of the facade from the rear. From this stairs, it is customary to throw coins into the top window of the ruins for luck. Behind the façade are remains of the original pillars and a shrine.

The facade, rising in 4 colonnaded tiers, is crowned by the cross of Jerusalem, below which are 3 tiers with niches containing statues, cast from bronze at a local cannon and bell factory. It is covered with Jesuit statues with Oriental themes (such as a woman stepping on a 7-headed hydra, described by Chinese characters as “Holy Mother tramples the heads of the dragon”), carvings of the Garden of Eden, the Crucifixion, the angel, the devil, a Chinese dragon, a Portuguese sailing ship, a Japanese chrysanthemum, pious warnings inscribed in Chinese, founders of the Jesuit Order, the “Conquest of Death by Jesus” and, at the very top, a dove with wings outstretched.

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

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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

Peak Tram (Hong Kong)

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Upon arrival at the Lower Peak Tram Terminus, we bought our tickets for the Peak Tram, a 1.352 km. funicular ride through upper Hong Kong that will take us  up to around 396 m. up the 522-m. high Victoria Peak, the highest peak in Hong Kong.

Lower Peak Tram Terminus

Opened in May 1888  for the exclusive use of the British Governor and Victoria Peak residents (the first mechanical public transport in Hong Kong), this historic service remains, to this day, the steepest funicular railway in the world.  The trams were originally steam-driven.  In 1926, an electric cable haulage system was introduced and the current modernized enclosed, 2-car trams were introduced in 1989, using a 1520 mm. rail gauge.  Until the 1960s, there were 2 classes of tickets, one for the rich and the other for servants.

On Board the Peak Tram

The Peak Tram operates from 7 AM to midnight, departing within 10 to 15-min. intervals. The journey, from lower terminus to upper terminus, up the peak took us only 7 to 8 mins. but, during that short time, we were offered, as the tram ascended, an unfolding canvas of stunning views over Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and Victoria Harbor.

Cityscape View From the Peak Tram

Each red tram has a capacity of 120 people (95 seated and 25 standing). There were immediate stations at Cotton Tree Drive Terminal, Kennedy Rd., MacDonnell Rd., May Rd. and Barker Rd. though, at busy times, it may not be possible to board as the trams may be full.

Peak Tower Terminus

We arrived at the upper terminus at the distinctive, ultra-modern, 7-storey Peak Tower by 12:30 PM.  The tower’s wok-shaped upper storey looks not unlike a Japanese Shinto Gate.  The tower was designed by architect Zaha Hadid and was completed on August 29, 1972. The current tower, designed by renowned British architect Terry Farrell, was officially reopened to the public on May 1997.

Peak Tower

Upon arrival, we first had our lunch at the tower’s Burger King outlet. After lunch, we proceeded to its view platform where we had a stunning cityscape view of Hong Kong’s skyline.  With over 7000 skyscrapers built in past 2 decades, it is the world biggest, larger than New York City and, many say, the most beautiful in the world.  Also best appreciated at night, when the neon lights of Hong Kong’s giant skyscrapers are most majestic, it remains one of the greatest man-made views on Earth.

Hong Kong’s Magnificent Skyline

The tower’s retail and entertainment complex features a number of top attractions, including Ripley’s Believe It or Not Odditorium (2nd and 3rd floor), the Peak Explorer Motion Simulator (4th floor) and Madame Tussaud’s Waxworks Museum. Though we didn’t enter the wax museum, we still had a blast posing beside the available wax images of late martial arts start Bruce Lee and actress Cecilia Cheung.

Bruce Lee in Wax at Madame Tussaud’s

The tower also boasts of shopping arcades, 6 snack bars and cafes and 4 fine-dining restaurants including Hong Kong’s highest restaurant, Mövenpick Marche. After 1.5 hrs. on the tower, we decided it was time to leave for our next destination – Ocean Park, this time taking the taxi.

Peak Tram Lower Terminus: 33 Garden Road, Central, Hong Kong. Tel: (852) 2522 0922. Fax: (852) 2849 6237. Website: www.thepeak.com.hk. Email : info@thepeak.com.hk. Fares: Adults (HK$28 single, HK$40 return), Child (HK$11 single, HK$18 return), Senior (65 and over, HK$11 single, HK$18 return).

Enroute to the Peak Tram (Hong Kong)

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After our breakfast at a MacDonald’s outlet along Nathan Rd., we all returned to our hotel and prepared for our day’s main activities – the Peak Tram in the morning and Ocean Park in the afternoon. We planned to all go the former via the very efficient Mass Transit Railway (MTR) system.  From the hotel, we all walked all the way, from Kimberley Rd. to Nathan Rd. and, from there, to the nearby Tsim Sha Tsui MTR Station.  Here, we took the MTR to Central MTR Station.

Tsim Sha Tsui MTR Station

Upon our arrival at Central, we made our way to the J2 Exit and walked up to the ground level. It was a pleasant walk from Central to the Peak Tram Lower Terminus. Turning right, through Chater Garden (a gathering place for many of our Filipino kababayans), we crossed Queen’s Road Central and made our way up Garden Road. Along the way, we passed a few famous Hong Kong landmarks such as the Bank of China Tower and Citibank Plaza on our left and St John’s Cathedral on our right.

Central MTR Station

The cross-shaped, Early English and Decorated-Gothic styled St. John’s Cathedral (or the Cathedral Church of St. John the Evangelist), a declared monument since January 5, 1996.  Located along Garden Road, it is the oldest surviving Western ecclesiastical building in Hong Kong and is believed to be the oldest Anglican church in the Far East.  It was built in 1849 and houses 3 beautiful stained glass windows, as well as a collection of British military colors, standards and guidons. An eastern extension was added in 1873.  During the Japanese occupation, the cathedral was used as a social club for the Japanese community.  It suffered heavy damage during the war and most of the present interior and furnishings are post-war.

St. John's Cathedral

Next to the cathedral, along Battery Path, is the Former French Mission Building, built by Sir Henry Pottinger, the first governor of Hong Kong. This granite and red brick structure, completed between 1842 and 1843, is one of Hong Kong’s oldest surviving colonial buildings. Acquired by the French Mission in 1915, it was extensively rebuilt in 1917 and was finally sold back to the Hong Kong Government in 1953. Reputedly the location of the colony’s first government house, it has green shutters, black wrought-iron details and a chapel on the northwest corner, topped by a cupola, added by French Catholic missionaries. Today, this Neo-Classical styled building is used as the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal and was declared as a declared monument on September 14, 1989.

Former French Mission Building

Built in 1950, the 17-storey Old Bank of China Building, Hong Kong Building was, for some time, one of the masterpieces of Hong Kong architecture. Contemporary in style, it was completed only a year after the Communist Party came to power in China. The new party endeavored to make it one of the grandest buildings in Hong Kong and, at one point, it towered more than 20 feet over the neighboring Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank Building (HSBC), which was their goal.

Old Bank of China Building (left) beside the newer HSBC Building

No longer home to the Bank of China, the attractive building is – ironically – now one of the shortest in Hong Kong’s Central District, was replaced in the 1990s by I.M Pei’s stunning Bank of China Tower. However, during its heyday, the old building served not only as bank headquarters but also as a way to encourage Hong Kong citizens to disregard their colonial rulers and pledge allegiance to China. It is said that during the 1960s, loud speakers were placed on the exterior of the building to broadcast “patriotic” messages to locals.

Bank of China Building

The Old Bank of China was designed by P & T Architects and Engineers Ltd., established in 1868. Also known as Palmer and Turner, the group has, throughout the decades, designed a number of other well-known Hong Kong landmarks, including the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank (Bank of China’s rival) and a number of other office buildings, hotels, and condominiums worldwide.

Clock Tower, Hong Kong Cultural Center, Hong Kong Museum of Art and Hong Kong Space Museum (Hong Kong)

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From Kowloon Park, Jandy, Cheska and I walked along Canton Road until we reached the red brick and granite, 45-m. high Former Kowloon-Canton Railway Clock Tower, located near Victoria Harbor at the foot of Salisbury Road.  Topped by a 7-m. high lightning rod, it is the only remnant of the original site of the former Kowloon Station on the Kowloon-Canton Railway. Built in 1915, it marks the start of the scenic Waterfront Promenade and remains as a photogenic monument to Tsim Sha Tsui’s rail heritage. The tower can be reached by a wooden staircase located within. Another landmark, the Tsim Sha Tsui Ferry Pier, is located nearby.

Clock Tower

The Clock Tower reused the clock from the now demolished Pedder Street Clock Tower. However, only one side had a clock, and it was not until 1920 that the remaining three sides of the Clock Tower were installed. They began operation in the afternoon of March 22, 1921, and have run ever since except during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong during World War II.  In 1975, the Kowloon Station was moved to the present-day Hung Hom Station, on the newly reclaimed Hung Hom Bay. The old building of the station was demolished in 1977 but the Clock Tower was preserved. Since July 13, 1990, the tower has been listed as a declared monument in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong Cultural Center

Today, the site of the historic railway station is now occupied by the multipurpose Hong Kong Cultural Center, its curving roof and futuristic features creating an unusual background to the Clock Tower. Home to the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, the center has an oval, 2-tiered 2,019-seat Concert Hall with adjustable acoustic canopy and curtains and finished with high-quality oak.  It also houses an 8,000-pipe pipe organ (Asia’s largest, built by the Austrian firm Rieger Orgelbau), a 1,734-seat, 3-tiered Grand Theater for large scale opera, ballet and musicals,  a 300-496-seat Studio Theater for smaller-scale theater and performance works, an  Exhibition Gallery, 4 foyer exhibition areas and 11 rehearsal and practice rooms.

Hong Kong Museum of Art

Flanking the Hong Kong Cultural Center are the Hong Kong Space Museum and the Hong Kong Museum of Art.  The Hong Kong Museum of Art, a museum for Chinese cultural heritage, and local and international art in Hong Kong, houses 14,000 art objects, mainly Chinese paintings of historical significance, sculpture and calligraphy works and antique Chinese treasures.  The museum also presents a great variety of thematic exhibitions drawn from local and overseas sources. It was first established in the City Hall in 1962 and moved to the present premises in 1991.

Hong Kong Space Museum

The 80,000-sq. m., dome-shaped Hong Kong Space Museum, built in 1980, has 3 sections: the Hall of Space Science, the Hall of Astronomy, and one of the world’s largest and most technical planetariums, the Space Theater, where thrilling wide-screen Omnimax and Skyshows are presented.

How to Get There: From MTR Tsim Sha Tsui Station Exit E, walk towards Salisbury Road, turn right, take pedestrian next to YMCA to Hong Kong Cultural Centre. Then turn right and walk straight ahead towards the waterfront.  Take Star Ferry from Central or Wan Chai and follow the signs. The Clock Tower is located next to the Tsim Sha Tsui Star Ferry Pier.

Stopover at Carcar City (Cebu)

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The cake-like kiosk

Another long stopover, for merienda, was made at a Jollibee in the  junction town of Carcar, 40.3 kms. (a 1-hour drive) from Cebu City. It just rained, but this didn’t stop me from exploring Cebu’s version of a “heritage town” in detail. Just outside, a wonderful round kiosk from the American era greeted me, valiantly standing proud, amid large offending billboards, at the center of the Carcar Rotunda. It is one of the best surviving examples of its genre in the country.Carcaranons engage in blacksmithing and the making of footwear and native delicacies such as ampao (sweetened and crispy rice crunchies), bucarillo (colored coconut candy) and chicharon (pork skin cracklings). Tacoy (sweet pomelos) are also grown here.

Church of St. Catherine of Alexandria

The town’s affluence during the Spanish colonial era is still evident in its sprawling plaza and its surviving large and small intricately decorated antique manors. Carcar is noted for its striking examples of preserved colonial architecture, both from the Spanish and American eras. The most notable structure is the Church of St. Catherine of Alexandria.

Church interior

Its lovely and massive Graeco-Tuscan façade has a strong Muslim influence as seen from its double recessed arched main entrance (similar to an iwan of a Middle Eastern mosque).

The church patio, surrounded by a low fence of coral stone and wrought iron, has statues of the 12 Apostles, all painted white, except for that of Judas (standing all alone on a pedestal in front of the convent), which is painted black.

St. Catherine’s Dispensary

On the same hill as the Church are the American-era Carcar Dispensary and St. Catherine’s Academy (founded in 1923). The façades of both are decorated with carved wooden gingerbread fretwork, cut out in the manner of Victorian houses and all looking as delicate as fragile heirloom lace that could flutter even with a slight breeze. At the foot of the hill is a small but imposing plaza decorated with statues.

Mercado Mansion

Within the town are 46 quaint and antique ancestral houses called balay na bato (stone houses), some decorated with intricate lacy (calado) woodwork from the 1920s. This calado architecture, prevalent in Carcar, is unsurpassed in the country. A number of old houses, some older than the church, are found at the foot of the hill.

 

Stopover: Church of Nuestra Señora Patrocinio de Maria (Boljo-on, Cebu)

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Church of Nuestra Señora Patrocinio de Maria

Standing on a small plateau near the beach, this church was destroyed in a piratical raid in 1782. The present masonry church was started by Fr. Ambrosio Otero in 1783, continued by Fr. Manuel Cordero in 1794 and was finished by Fr. Julian Bermejo.

The convent

Fr. Bermejo also built a stone fence to enclose the church and convent.  An organ was installed on the choir loft in 1880.  The large convent and church were restored by Fr. Leandro Moran (parish priest from 1920 to 1948).

The church pilasters

The church has a main nave, a transept and is 65 m. long, 12 m. wide, 12 m. high and its walls are supported by 28 2-m. thick pilasters made with mortar and lime.  Their beautifully decorated and elegant interior has ornate, gilded, 18th century retablos with wooden railings with Chinese-inspired tracery.  The Pseudo-Baroque-Rococo communion rail, with ornate silverwork, has been stolen. The austere Classic facade has three levels, an elongated pediment and is decorated with bas reliefs and floral and geometric motifs.

The bell tower

The rectangular, fortress-like bell tower, built in 1701, has fort windows used to show cannons to defend against Moro pirates. The sound of its silver bells reached Oslob and Alcoy. But in 1802, they were stolen by Muslim hordes led by Datu Orendain (because of their weight, the Moro vinta sunk). Today it has 3 bells. The L-shaped convent, also built and finished in 1841, by Fr. Bermejo, still has its original tile roof.  Its ground floor now houses a museum.  Outside, at the epistle side of the church is an enclosed cemetery with an arched entrance.  An old school building, built in 1940, is now the Catholic Womens League (CWL) headquarters.

A blockhouse

This relatively well-preserved church is the oldest remaining original stone church in Cebu.  It is now listed by the National Museum  as a National Cultural Treasure.  In 1998, this church was declared for conservation and restoration and, in 1999, technical studies have been undertaken, with the help of the German government, to pursue conservation and restoration efforts.

Cebu Trail: Oslob to Carcar City

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Looc Pier (Sibulan)

We left Dumaguete City (Negros Oriental) after lunch and drove our Ford Explorer 5.5 kms. north to Sibulan’s Looc Pier, where the M/T Joseph-1, a Roll-On Roll-Off ferry, would take us and the car over to Brgy. Mainit in Oslob, Cebu. The Explorer was the last to be loaded on board and the ship finally left Looc Port by 1:30 PM.

Our Ford Explorer disembarking from the M/T Joseph-1 at Mainit Port

The sea journey to Oslob (Cebu) was smooth all the way and, after less than an hour, our ship arrived at Mainit Port by 2:15 PM.  Being the last car loaded at Sibulan, our Ford Explorer was, conversely, the first one off the ship.

Church of Nuestra Señora Patrocinio de Maria (Boljo-on)

From thereon, with Charlie on the wheel, we would have to drive the remaining 132.5-kms. up to Cebu City but we did this at a leisurely pace.  Just 28 kms./45 mins. out of Oslob, we made a short 10-min. stopover (1 of 3 we made) at the Church of Nuestra Señora Patrocinio de Maria in Boljo-on along the highway and facing the beach. This relatively well-preserved church is the oldest remaining original stone church in Cebu.  It is now listed by the National Museum  as a National Cultural Treasure. The church was closed during our visit.

Check out “Church of Nuestra Señora Patrocinio de Maria“

Church of Our Lady of the Pillar

Church of Our Lady of the Pillar (Sibonga)

Continuing on for 45.5 kms., we made another stopover at the Church of Our Lady of the Pillar in Sibonga which had a simple and bare, Pseudo-Gothic façade.  Like the previous church, this too was closed and, thus, failed to see its wooden colonnade and a painted ceiling mural done by Raymundo Francia.

Check out “Church of Our Lady of the Pillar“

San Isidro Labrador Church

Church of St. Isidore the Farmer (San Fernando)

Along the way, prior to our arrival in Carcar, I also took quick exterior shots of the Gothic-style Church of St. Isidore the Farmer in San Fernando and the Church of St. Francis of Assisi (with its unusual façade, suggestive of Mexican art that is skillfully integrated into the local Filipino religious architecture) in Naga.

Check out “Church of St. Isidore the Farmer” and “Archdiocesan Shrine of St. Francis of Assisi“

Church of St. Francis of Assisi

Church of St. Francis of Assisi (Naga)