The bells of Paracale Church |
Our longest stopover was at the Church of Our Lady of Candles in Paracale, my second such visit. However, my visit here was notable as this was my first time to climb a church bell tower (and two at that at each end of the facade). The towers were approached by first climbing a steep stair from the nave to the choir loft and, from there, another less steep stair, but with a very low opening, to the towers. The left belfry has two medium-sized bells bells while the right belfry has two big and older (circa 1888) bells and a small bell. One of the newer bells had a recognizable signature stating that it was cast in 1920 by the Hilarion Sunico Foundry (the foundry has made 176 bells since 1872 and its last known bell was cast in 1937). Some of the bells have visible cracks and all are colored blue-green possibly due to oxidation. The towers had panoramic views of the municipal hall and town proper as well as the mountains beyond.
5-18-2018. Was n Paracale some months ago. How sad i got seeing the new municipio replacing the old one. Church and old municipio were sharing the same atmosphere of old rimes. Today this is a disaster and hurts my heart.
The old municipio was demolished? In other towns, the old municipio is usually turned into a museum