Category Archives: SPECIAL TOPICS

Grand Central Terminal (New York City, U.S.A.)

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The historic and beautiful Grand Central Terminal, a world-famous landmark in Midtown Manhattan and one of the most majestic buildings of the twentieth century, was designed by the architectural firms of Reed and Stem and Warren and Wetmore and opened to the public on February 2, 1913.  On December 8, 1976, it was declared as a U.S. National Historic Landmark.

Grand Central Terminal

This massive, granite, Beaux-Arts-style  building has both monumental spaces and meticulously crafted detail, especially on its facade. At the top of the building is “The Glory of Commerce,” a cluster of sculptures designed by French sculptor Jules-Felix Coutan, carved by the John Donnelly Company and assembled by William Bradley of Long Island City, Queens.  Depicting  Minerva, Hercules, and Mercury (representing Wisdom, Speed, and Strength, according to Roman mythology), it was, during its unveiling in 1914, the largest sculpture grouping in the world. The exterior clock, just beneath Mercury, is the largest piece of Tiffany glass in the world, measuring 4 m. (13 ft.) in diameter.  The eagles, perched on the corner of the building, actually adorned the previous Grand Central Station, which opened in 1869.

The cavernous interior

Here are some interesting trivia regarding this terminal:

  • The terminal is one of the world’s most visited tourist attractions, with 21.9 million visitors in 2013.
  • So much granite was used that the building emits relatively high levels of radiation. At an average dose of 525 mrem/year, a level higher than permitted in a nuclear power facility.
  • Grand Central Terminal’s 20 hectare (49-acre) basements are among the largest in New York City.
  • The exact location of M42, a “secret” sub-basement under the terminal that contains the AC to DC convertersused to supply DC traction current to the tracks, is a closely guarded secret and does not appear on maps.
  • It covers 19 hectares (48 acres) and has 44 platforms, more than any other railroad station in the world.
  • The Main Concourse was featured in dozens of films, among them Alfred Hitchcock’s “North By Northwest” to the animated DreamWorks film” Madagascar” as well as scenes from the Avengers, Superman and the X-men.

The cavernous, 84 m. (275 ft.) long, 37 m. (120 ft.) wide and 38 m. (125 ft.) high Main Concourse, the center of Grand Central, is usually filled with bustling crowds and is often used as a meeting place. Since the introduction of ticket vending machines, the ticket booths here now stand unused or have been repurposed.

Bay Balcony

Its interior has 35 restaurants, such as the famous  Oyster Bar & Restaurant (the only business that remained from the very day that Grand Central opened in 1913), Shake Shack and various fast food outlets (Starbucks, etc.) surrounding the Dining Concourse on the level below the Main Concourse, as well as delis, bakeries (Magnolia Bakery, etc.), pharmacy (Rite Aid),  full-service watch repair shop (Central Watch), fourth floor tennis club (Vanderbilt Tennis Club, opened in the 1960s and now owned by onald Trump), newsstands, a gourmet and fresh food market, an annex of the New York Transit Museum, and 65 retail stores (Apple Store, Vineyard Vines, M.A.C. Cosmetics, etc.).

Some of the restaurants and retail stores within the terminal

Right outside the Oyster Bar is the Whispering Gallery.  One of the most popular spots in the Terminal, people often crowd this relatively plain-looking space, their faces pressed into the corner as the gallery perfectly transmits sound from corner to corner so much so that you can have a conversation, at the barest whisper, with a friend, hearing each other as though you were standing face to face.  The precise arch of the ceiling and the tiled surface caused this architectural anomaly.

The main information booth, in the center of the concourse, has the Main Concourse Information Booth Clock, a 4-faced brass clock, on top. Perhaps the most recognizable icon of Grand Central, it was designed by Henry Edward Bedford and cast in Waterbury, Connecticut. Each of the four clock faces is made from opalescent glass (now often called opal glass or milk glass), though urban legend has it that the faces are made of opal and that Sotheby’s and Christie’s have estimated their value to be between $10 million and $20 million.

Information board

The original blackboard (with arrival and departure information) by Track 36, dubbed a Solari board (after its Italian manufacturer), was replaced, in the main concourse, by an electromechanical display over the ticket windows that displayed times and track numbers of arriving and departing trains.

This New York institution, an indicator of just how busy Grand Central was, once contained rows of flip panels that displayed train information as its many displays would flap simultaneously to reflect changes in train schedules. Today, high-resolution mosaic LCD modules replaced the flap-board destination sign.

The elaborately decorated astronomical ceiling

The starry, stunning and elaborately decorated astronomical ceiling of  the Main Concourse, depicting the constellations of the Zodiac (astronomically inaccurate in a complicated way as other constellations are reversed left-to-right), was conceived in 1912 by Architect Whitney Warren with his friend, French portrait artist Paul César Helleu, and executed by James Monroe Hewlett and Charles Basing of Hewlett-Basing Studio, with corps of astronomers and painting assistants working on it. In the late 1930s, the original ceiling was replaced to correct falling plaster. A 12-year restoration effort, completed in autumn 1996, removed tar and nicotine from tobacco smoke from the ceiling and restored to its original design.

Next to the Main Concourse sits Vanderbilt Hall, named for the family of Cornelius Vanerbilt that built and owned the station.  Serving as the entrance area from 42nd Street at Pershing Square, it was formerly the main waiting room for the terminal.  Today, it is used for the annual Christmas Market and special exhibitions, and is rented for private events.

Jandy with the Main Concourse Information Booth Clock behind him

Grand Central Terminal: 89 East 42nd St. at Park Ave., New York City, New York 10017. Open aily, 5:30 AM – 2 AM. Website: www.grandcentralterminal.com. The Grand Central Market is open Mondays – Fridays, 7 AM -9PM; Saturdays, 10AM – 7PM; and Sundays, 11AM – 6PM..

How To Get There: The closest subway station is at the terminal itself (Grand Central Station) and is serviced by 4, 5, 6, and 7 trains as well as the S shuttle train from Times Square –42nd Street.

Museum of Modern Art (New York City, U.S.A.)

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Museum of Modern Art

The first place we visited, upon arrival in New York City, was the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA),  an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan. One of the largest and most influential museums of modern art in the world. MoMA’s admission cost of US$25 makes it one of the most expensive museums in the city.

The crowd that day inside the museum

However, it has free entry on Fridays, sponsored by clothing company Uniqlo, after 4PM and this we availed of. As such, the museum was more crowded (including the inevitable Oriental selfie snappers) than I would have liked and it was hard to move around but who can complain?

Photography (minus the camera flash) was allowed here, though my pictures didn’t capture the impact of the in-real-life viewing. There are 5 floors of artwork to admire and the huge galleries, whose overall chronological flow presents a perspective of stylistic progression and place in time, were well laid out. I allow a minimum of two hours to explore the museum.

The author besides Joan Miro’s The Hunter – Catalan Landscape (1923-24, Oil on Canvas)

MoMA  has been important in developing and collecting Modernist art and its collection offers an overview of modern and contemporary art, including works of sculpture,  architecture and design, drawing, painting,  photography, prints, illustrated books and artist’s books, film and electronic media.

A private non-profit organization, MoMA is the seventh-largest U.S. museum by budget (its annual revenue is about US$145 million, none of which is profit).

Andre Derain (Bathers, 1907, Oil on Canvas)

Vasily Kandinsky (Picture with an Archer, 1909, Oil on Canvas)

Rene Magritte (The Lovers, 1928, Oil on Canvas)

MOMA is considered, by many, to have the best collection of modern Western masterpieces in the world.  Its holdings include more than 150,000 individual pieces in addition to approximately 22,000 films and 4 million film stills (access to the collection ended in 2002 and the collection is mothballed in a vault in Hamlin, Pennsylvania).

Claude Monet (Agapanthus, Oil on Canvas, 1914-26)

Andrea Bowers (A Menace to Liberty, 2012)

All the classics were here and it was moving, inspiring, immersive and absorbing but also a bit overwhelming. The nicely curated collection at the fifth floor houses such important and familiar works as the following:

Claude Monet (The Japanese Footbridge)

Jackson Pollock (One Number 31, 1950)

It also holds works by a wide range of influential European and American artists including Georges Braque, Marcel Duchamp, Walker Evans, Helen Frankenthaler, Alberto Giacometti, Arshile Gorky, Hans Hofmann, Edward Hopper, Paul Klee, Franz Kline, Willem de Kooning, Dorothea Lange, Fernand Léger, Roy Lichtenstein, Morris Louis, René Magritte,  Joan Miró, Henry Moore, Kenneth Noland, Georgia O’Keeffe, Jackson Pollock, Robert Rauschenberg, Auguste Rodin, Mark Rothko, David Smith, Frank Stella, and hundreds of others.

Fernand Leger (The Mirror, 1925, Oil on Canvas)

Fernand Leger (Woman with a Book, 1923, Oil on Canvas) (1)

Many of the paintings have an audio option which is great for some background information.

Vincent Van Gogh (The Starry Night, 1889, Oil on Canvas)

Seeing the original painting of Vincent van Gogh’s famous The Starry Night was certainly a moving experience that I shall not soon forget. I could actually see the layers and layers of paint, the small brush strokes and all of the colors of paint that are far more vivid on canvas.

Claude Monet (Reflections of Clouds on the Water-Lily Pond)

Claude Monet’s Water Lilies triptych, breathtaking to see in person, was also a big highlight worth seeing. The Picasso’s were also stunning, It was also great to see the full set of Andy Warhol, Campbell’s Soup Cans.

Any Warhol (Campbell’s soup cans, 1962)

An acquired taste is required for the temporary exhibits at the 3rd and the 4th floors which were very contemporary and not to my liking. The perplexing abstract pieces, using garage components such as snow shovels and car tires hammered (which begs the question “what was that supposed to be?”), didn’t excited me but they were still worth seeing how imaginative (and indulgent) modern artists have become.

Check out “Unfinished Conversations: New Work From the Collection,” “Robert Rauschenberg: Among Friends” and “Making Space: Women Artists and Postwar Abstraction”  

Shirana Shahbazi (Composition 40 2011)

Certain pieces here challenged my preconceived ideas, making me scratch your head and ask the question “Is that’s art?” upon seeing 7 boards of wood painted white being called art.

Frank Lloyd Wright at 150

However, being an architect, the very informative Frank Lloyd-Wright exhibit, with its original drawings (painstakingly rendered the old fashion way), blueprints, sketches and models for many of his projects (both completed and proposed); was very interesting.

Check out “Frank Lloyd Wright at 150: Unpacking the Archive” 

Frank Lloyd Wright

Articles about the the myth of the great American architect provide interesting insights into his thinking and inspirations, portraying how advanced his ideas were in many ways.

Henri Matisse – Music (Sketch, 1907, Oil and Charcoal on Canvas)

Henri Matisse (Periwinkles-Morrocan Garden, Oil, Pencil and Charcoal on Canvas, 1912)

Henri Matisse (Still Life with Aubergines, Oil on Canvas, 1911)

Henri Matisse (The Rose Marble Table, Oil on Canvas, 1917)

MoMA’s Department of Architecture and Design, was founded in 1932, is the first museum department in the world dedicated to the intersection of architecture and design.  Philip Johnson, the department’s first director, served as curator between 1932–34 and 1946–54.

Henri Matisse (La Serpentine, Bronze, 1909)

Henri Matisse (Dance-1, 1909, Oil on Canvas)

Henri Matisse (The Morrocans, Oil on Canvas, 1915-16)

The collection consists of 28,000 works including architectural models, drawings and photographs and one of its highlights is the Mies van der Rohe Archive. It also includes works of legendary architects and designers Frank Lloyd Wright, Paul László, the Eameses, Isamu Noguchi, and George Nelson.

Pablo Picasso (Les Demoiselle d’Avignon, Oil on Canvas, 1907)

Pablo Picasso (Woman with Pears, 1909, Oil on Canvas)

Pablo Picasso (The Studio, Oil on Canvas, 1927-28)

The Design Collection contains many industrial and manufactured pieces, ranging from a self-aligning ball bearing to an entire Bell 47D1 helicopter.

Bell 47D1 helicopter

In 2012, the department acquired a selection of 14 video games, the basis of an intended collection of 40 which is to range from Pac-Man (1980) to Minecraft (2011). The world-renowned Art Photography Collection, founded by Beaumont Newhall in 1940, includes photos by Todd Webb.

Pablo Picasso (Nude with Joined Hands, Oil on Canvas, 1906)

Pablo Picasso (Two Nudes, 1906, Oil on Canvas)

Pablo Picasso (Ma Jolie, 1911)

Pablo Picasso (Bather, Oil on Canvas, 1908-09)

The building also features an entrance for school groups, a 125-seat auditorium, an orientation center, workshop space for teacher training programs, study centers, and a large lobby with double-height views into the beautiful outdoor Sculpture Garden, at the mile of the museum, which features Aristide Maillol’s The River, a great statue of a woman diva laying on her back above the water.

Aristide Maillol (The River)

Alexander Calder (Sandy’s Butterfly, 1964)

From about 1.5 million a year, MoMA has seen its average number of visitors rise to 2.5 million after its new granite and glass renovation. In 2009, the museum reported 119,000 members and 2.8 million visitors over the previous fiscal year.

Paul Cezanne (Still Life with Apples, 1895-98, Oil on Canvas)

Paul Cezanne (L’Estaque, 1879-83, Oil on Canvas)

Paul Cezanne – Château Noir 1904-06, Oil on canvas, 73.6 x 93.2 cm.)

During its 2010 fiscal year, it attracted its highest-ever number of visitors of 3.09 million. However, in 2011, attendance dropped 11% to 2.8 million.

Paul Cezanne (The Bather, 1885, Oil on Canvas)

Paul Cezanne (Pines and Rocks – Fountainbleau)

Since its founding in 1929, the museum was open every day until 1975, when it closed one day a week (originally Wednesdays) to reduce operating expenses. In 2012, it again opened every day, including Tuesday, the one day it has traditionally been closed.

Henry Rosseau (The Sleeping Gypsy, 1897, Oil on Canvas)

Henri Rosseau (The Dream, 1910, Oil on Canvas)

The museum’s awesome gift shop had a lovely selection of gifts such as magnets, prints and more unique items like socks and scarves with art on them as well that summed up all of the amazing art throughout the museum. 

Vasudeo S. Gaitonde (Painting No. 4, 1962)

Mademoiselle Pogany (Constantin Brancusi)

Museum of Modern Art (MoMA): 11 West 53rd St. (between Fifth and Sixth Ave.) , New York City, NY 10019, USA. Open 10:30 AM – 5:30 PM (8 PM on Fridays). Admission: US$25/adult, children below 12 years old is free. 

How to Get There:

Bus: Any line to 53rd Street

Metro: Any line to Fifth Avenue or 53rd Street

Diocesan Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe (Pagsanjan, Laguna)

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Diocesan Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe

This church was first built in bamboo, wood and nipa by Father Agustin de la Magdalena in 1687 using forced labor. In 1690, it was replaced by a larger and more solid adobe church with a red-tiled roof with the help of Chinese Miguel Guan-Co and Aguacil Mayor Alfonso Garcia.  From 1847 to 1853, it was improved by Father Joaquin de Coria, who engineered the stone belfry and Romanesque dome. and its transept added in 1872 by Fathers Serafin Linares and Cipriano Bac.

PHC Plaque

On March 15, 1945, during World War II, the church was heavily damaged by American bombing.  After the war, it was reconstructed, without the original dome, with the help of Pagsanjenos from Manila under the leadership of Engr. German Yia and Dr. Rosendo Llamas. In 1965, it was again restored under Lipa Archbishop Alejandro Olalia and, on April 6, 1969, Bishop Pedro Bantigue blessed the rebuilt church and consecrated the main altar.

Plaque with Decree of Erection as a Diocesan Shrine

In 2012, the church was declared as the Diocesan Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe by the Diocese of San Pablo. From 2013 to the present, further renovations were carried out, including the church patio and construction of the choir loft and church gate.

AUTHOR’S NOTES:

The church’s three-level Early Renaissance facade has a semicircular arched main entrance with portico flanked by square pilasters and semicircular arched windows at the first level; a row of three semicircular arched choir loft windows at the second level; and a triangular pediment with semicircular arched statued niche at the tympanum flanked by rounded Tuscan columns and crowned by a triangular canopy (above which is an oculus).  On its left is a three-storey, square bell tower with open semicircular arched openings and topped with a dome.

The church interior

The church houses the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe.  The original image, a gift from Mexico, was stored in the main altar on December 12, 1688 but was destroyed during the American bombing.

The image of Our Lady of Guadalupe

In 1958, Mexican Catholics donated a life-size image of the Virgin made by Ramon Barreto, a noted sculptor from Toluca.  Another image, sculpted by prominent Manila sculptor Maximo Vicente, is housed on the main altar.

Capilla del Tilma de Guadalupe

The Capilla del Tilma de Guadalupe, a side chapel near the altar, houses an image of San Juan Diego, a replica of the tilma of the Our Lady of Guadalupe and a stone relic from Tepeyac Hill, Mexico City, the site of the 1531 apparition of the Virgin of Guadalupe. The chapel also has a mini-museum containing liturgical vestments of Pagsanjeño priests.

Liturgical vestments of Pagsanjeño priests

Diocesan Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe: National Highway, Pagsanjan, Laguna. Tel: (049) 808-4121.  Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe: December 12.

How to Get There: Pagsanjan is located 102 kms. from Manila and six kms. from Santa Cruz.

Church of St. John the Baptist (Calamba City, Laguna)

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Church of St. John the Baptist

The Church of St. John the Baptist was originally built in 1859.  Its original altar (as well as original baptismal records and canonical books) was burned on September 28, 1862  but was immediately rebuilt by Fr. Leoncio Lopez.

The author with son Jandy

On February 12, 1945, during World War II, the church was burned by the Japanese. After the war, it was rebuilt by Fr. Eliseo Dimaculangan.

The 3-level Baroque facade

AUTHOR’S NOTES

The 3-level Baroque façade has a semicircular arched main entrance flanked by fluted pilasters, semicircular arched stain glass windows (St. Dominic and St. Lorenzo Ruiz) and twin, 4-storey (square in the first two storeys and hexagonal for the upper two) bell towers topped by a dome. The choir loft level has a small circular, stained glass window while the broken pediment’s raking cornice has undulating lines.

The church interior

The retablo and main altar

Jose Rizal was baptized at its baptistery on June 22, 1861 by Fr. Rufino Collantes and his godfather Fr. Pedro Casanas.

The baptismal font

The original baptismal font, recognized as a National Historical Landmark (Level 1), including original church items and reliquaries during Rizal’s time, have been preserved and refurbished.

PHC Plaque

Displayed on the left side of the baptistery entrance is a transcript of Rizal’s existing baptismal record issued by Fr. Leoncio Lopez.

Transcript of Rizal’s existing baptismal record

At the right side of the church, facing the entrance, is the Garden of Gethsemane, a small garden with sculpted, life-size images of the Stations of the Cross and a Well of Repentance (Balon ng Pagbabalik Loob).

Garden of Gethsemane

Church of St. John the Baptist: J.P. Rizal cor. Mercado St., ‎ Poblacion 5. Tel: (049) 545-1565.  Feast of St. John the Baptist: June 24.

How to Get There: Calamba City is located 53.3 kms. (a 1.25-hour drive) from Manila and 46.5 kms. (a 1-hour drive) from Santa Cruz. The church is located across the plaza and adjacent to Rizal Shrine.

Cathedral of Our Lady of the Pillar (Imus City, Cavite)

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Cathedral of Our Lady of the Pillar

The seventh and last church we visited during our visita iglesia was the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Pillar (Catedral de Nuestra Señora del Pilar) in Imus City.  Started by  Augustinian Recollect Fr. Nicolás Becerra (parish priest from 1821 to 1840) in 1825 using forced labor, the cathedral, belfry and the convent took more half a century to finish. On April 29, 1962, when the Diocese of Imus was erected, the convent became the bishop’s residence.

 Check out “VIsita Iglesia 2017“

NHI Plaque

On November 13, 2006, the cathedral was designated as a Marked Structure (of Historical Significance) by the then National Historical Institute of the Philippines (now the National Historical Commission of the Philippines).

The cathedral’s Baroque facade

This 18th century church, located at the boundary of Bayan Luma and Bucandala, has three naves.  The cathedral is 61 m. (200 ft.) long, 40 m. (130 ft.) wide, 30 m. (100 ft.) high and has 27 m. (90 ft.) wide nave.

The 3-storey bell tower

Its imposing, two-level tuft stone and brick Baroque facade, with its dark and subdued colors, was patterned after the fifth Manila Cathedral by Fr. Juan de Uguccioni, which existed from 1760 to 1852.  It has a segmental arch main entrance flanked by rectangular and semicircular arch windows and superpositioned flat columns in pairs. The pediment, with its statued niche, flows down into scrolls. Latin inscriptions accentuate the arches.

The cathedral interior

The three-storey square bell tower, on the church’s right, is topped by a dome. Inside are tall stained glass windows and a unique rendition of the Stations of the Cross using wooden carvings showing the hands of Christ.

The altar retablo

The church hosts the longest Holy Week procession in Cavite (with at least 70 floats) and is the country’s 5th longest overall, the other four being the Church of St. Augustine (Baliuag) and Diocesan Shrine of St. Isidore the Farmer (Pulilan), both located in the province of Bulacan, with at least 110 floats each, The Church of Our Lady of the Abandoned in Marikina  (Metro Manila), with 82 floats, and the Church of Our Lady of Aranzazu in San Mateo, Rizal, with 76 floats.

Check out “Diocesan Shrine of St. Isidore the Farmer“

Cathedral of Our Lady of the Pillar: Gen. Castaneda St., Brgy. IV-A,  Imus City, Cavite. Tel: (046) 471-4839. Feast of Our Lady of the Pillar: October 12.

How to Get There: Imus City is located 44.7 kms. (a 1.5-hr. drive) from Manila and 24 kms. (a 45-min. drive) from Trece Martires City.

Church of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception (Dasmarinas City, Cavite)

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Church of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception

From Trece Martires City, Jandy and I drove on to Dasmarinas City were we made a stopover at its Church of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception.  There was a mass ongoing during our visit.

The church was the site of a bloody battle where Spanish troops defeated Filipino troops led by Capt. Placido Campos and Francisco Barzaga on February 25, 1897.  On December 17, 1944, during the Japanese occupation in World War II, many of the town’s residents were imprisoned here and 17 were executed and buried in a common grave.

 Check out “VIsita Iglesia 2017“

NHI Plaque

During the Spanish era, the convent was once the seat of the civil government.  In 1986, it was designated as a Marked Historical Structure by the National Historical Institute (now the National Historical Commission of the Philippines).

The church’s Neo-Classical facade

The present church has a three-storey Neo-Classical facade with a portico covering the semicircular arched main entrance door of the church. The upper levels, flanked by flat pilasters, have semicircular arched windows, of various sizes, and a projecting statued niche.  The triangular pediment has a small circular window.  The church is 55 m. (180 ft.) long, 24 m.(80 ft.) wide and has a 16 m. (52 ft.) wide nave.

One of the 4-storey bell towers

The façade is flanked on both sides by four-storey (the first two square and the upper two octagonal) bell towers with two old bells. The small bell has the inscription “Perez Dasmariñas año 1867 approx. 14 libras.”

The church interior

Church of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception: P. Campos Avenue. Tel: (046) 416 1295  and (046) 416-0797.  Feast of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception: December 8.

How to Get There: Dasmariñas City is located 50.1 kms.(a 1.5-hour drive) from Manila and 11.6 kms. (a 30-min. drive) from Trece Martires City.

Church of St. Gregory the Great (Indang, Cavite)

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Church of St. Gregory the Great

From the Bonifacio Trial Museum in Maragondon, it was 23.8 km. (40-min.) drive to Indang where we made a stopover at its Church of St. Gregory the Great.  A huge part of this stone church, started during the term of Fr. Luis Morales (1672 to 1676), was finished on 1710. In 1869, its roof was replaced with galvanized iron (one of the first churches in Cavite to use such).

 Check out “VIsita Iglesia 2017“

During the Philippine revolution, the church was burned but it was restored under the auspices of Msgr. Mauro de Leon in 1953 and Fr. Cornelio Matanguihan in 1987.

AUTHOR’S NOTES:

Its 3-level Baroque façade has a semicircular arched main entrance with portico, above which is a semicircular arched window with balustrade.  Both are flanked by semicircular arched statued niches, single superpositioned Tuscan columns and massive piers topped by urn-like finials. The triangular pediment has a semicircular arched statued niche at the tympanum.

The church’s Baroque-style facade

The 3-storey, octagonal bell tower, on the church’s left, has semicircular arched window openings with balustrades and is topped by a pointed roof.

The 3-storey bell tower

Inside are elegantly carved doors, impressive carvings on the choir loft balcony and elegant and impressive rose-colored trompe l’oil paintings (done during the 18th century) on its ceiling. The walls and pillars of the church also have several commemorative gravestones.

The church’s interior

The retablo has three levels of niches for images of saints, with the central niche reserved for the image of St. Gregory the Great, the town’s patron.

The main altar and retablo

At the right side of the altar is a painting of St. Michael and the Archangels. The church pulpit has the Jesuit monogram surmounted by the image of the Christ child, a sign of its being a parish under the Jesuits before the suppression of 1768.

Pulpit

The adjacent old convent has wide windows and wrought iron work along the sides.

Left side retablo

Right side retablo

Church of St. Gregory the Great: Brgy. Tres, Indang 4122, Cavite. Tel: (046) 415-0211. Feast of St. Gregory the Great: Second Sunday of May.

How to Get There: Indang is located 66 kms. from Manila, 12 kms. from Trece Martires City and 8.9 kms. from Mendez.

Diocesan Shrine of the Immaculate Conception (Naic, Cavite)

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Diocesan Shrine of the Immaculate Conception

From the Church of the Holy Cross in Tanza, Jandy and I next drove the long 21.6 kms. distance to the Diocesan Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Naic.  First constructed in the 1800s with wood and cogon grass, six years after its initial construction, a kopa, a pair of cruets and ornamentation was added. In 1835, the construction of a new stone church was started by Don Pedro Florentino. Its bell tower was completed in 1892.

 Check out “VIsita Iglesia 2017” and “Church of the Holy Cross“

The church convent

After the Tejeros Convention of March 22, 1897, the the church convent was used as the headquarters of Andres Bonifacio and the Naic Conference was held there. In this conference, the old Tagalog letter of the flag was replaced by the “Sun of Liberty,” with two eyes, a nose and a mouth and its symbolic eight rays.

The church interior

Before World War II, the church was one of the tallest (about 5 storeys high) and the longest (almost 10 blocks long) churches in Cavite. In width, it was second to the Imus Cathedral. On November 17, 1996, it was made into a Diocesan Shrine.

The church’s Neo-Gothic facade

AUTHOR’S NOTES:

The church’s three-level Neo-Gothic façade, the only one of its kind in Cavite, has a pointed, lancet-like arched main entrance flanked by square pilasters and similarly pointed arched windows.

The 4-storey bell tower

The second level has three pointed arched windows while the triangular pediment, with inverted traceries below the eaves, has a circular window at the tympanum.  The central pilasters rise up to the pediment and end up in pinnacles, dividing the façade into 3 vertical sections. The sides of the church are reinforced by thick buttresses.

The thick buttresses

The 4-storey, square bell tower, on the church’s left, has alternating circular and pointed arched windows and is topped by a pyramidal roof.

The main altar

Its interior has 3 major and 2 minor Gothic-style altars with the Very Venerated Image of the Immaculate Concepcion, Patron Lady of Naic, in the main altar.

Diocesan Shrine of the Immaculate Conception: Capt. Ciriaco Nazareno St., Poblacion, Naic 4110, Cavite. Tel: (046) 412-0456. Feast of the Immaculate Conception: December 8.

How to Get There: Naic is located 47 kms. from Manila, 13.3 kms. from Trece Martires City, 12.9 kms. from Maragondon and 12.8 kms. from Tanza.

Church of the Holy Cross (Tanza, Cavite)

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Church of the Holy Cross

From the Church of St. Francis of Assisi in Gen. Trias City, we drove the short 3.6 km. (10-min.) drive, via Gen. Trias Drive,  to Tanza where we made a short stopover at the town’s Church of the Holy Cross (also called the Diocesan Shrine of St. Augustine).  Started in 1839, it was destroyed 20 years later during a strong earthquake.

 Check out “VIsita Iglesia 2017” and “Church of St. Francis of Assisi“

Plaque

The church was rebuilt in 1873 by Fr. Jose Trobat. On May 3, 1980, it was declared as a Marked Structure (of Historical Significance) by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines.

The 3-level Baroque facade

AUTHOR’S NOTES:

Its 3-level Baroque façade has a semicircular arched main entrance with portico, above which is a square window, flanked by paired superpositioned flat pilasters and statued niches. The segmental pediment has a semicircular arched statued niche at the tympanum.

The 4-storey bell tower

The 4-storey bell tower, sitting on a square base, has semicircular arched openings on the upper octagonal storeys. It is topped by a dome with a campanile on top.

The church interior

Church of the Holy Cross: Tanza – Trece Martires Rd., Tanza 4108, Cavite. Tel: (046) 437-7086. Feast of St. Augustine: August 28

How to Get There: Tanza is located 33 kms. from Manila, 12.7 kms. from Trece Martires City, 3.7 kms. from Rosario, 12.8 kilometers from Naic and 6 kms. from Noveleta.

Noveleta Tribunal (Cavite)

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Noveleta Tribunal

From the Church of St. Mary Magdalene in  Kawit, we drove the short 3.7 km. distance to Noveleta where we made a short visit to the town’s unassuming Church of the Holy Cross.  Just 100 m.from the church is the Noveleta Tribunal, the first municipal hall of the town.  It was here where, on August 31, 1896, Noveleta-born Gen. Pascual Alvarez, under orders from his uncle Gen. Mariano Alvarez of the Sangguniang Magdiwang, killed the Guardia Civil Capt. Antonio Rebolledo within the hall of this building.

 Check out “VIsita Iglesia 2017” and “Church of St. Mary Magdalene“

The narrow wooden stairway leading to the second floor

Lt. Francisco Naval, the adjutant of Capt. Rebolledo, was also killed. The rest of the Guardia Civil were disarmed and imprisoned. This incident further intensified the Cavite front of the Philippine Revolution. It was repaired on August 1998 during the term of Mayor Dionisio L. Torres.

Capiz windows and ventanillas

AUTHOR’S NOTES:

This historical, 2-storey building, with its narrow, centrally located wooden stairway leading to the second floor, has wooden columns, a balcony in front, a bank of sliding capiz windows with ventanillas, and calado (lace-style fretwork or latticework) on the soffit and roof eaves.

Philippine Historical Committee plaque

Noveleta Tribunal: Gen Antonio St., Poblacion, Noveleta, Cavite. Coordinates: 14°25’38″N 120°52’51″E.

How to Get There: Noveleta is located 27 kms. from Manila, 18.7 kms. from Trece Martires City, 6 kms. from Tanza and 3.5 kms. from Kawit.  The highway divides in this town, one branch going to Naic and Ternate and the other towards Cavite City. The Tribunal is situated just 10 m. from the Church of the Holy Cross. You can park your car in front of the church.