Category Archives: Monuments and Shrines

A Walking Tour of Shota Rustaveli Avenue (Tbilisi, Georgia)

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Shota Rustaveli Avenue

Shota Rustaveli Avenue

Shota Rustaveli Avenue, the central avenue in Tbilisi formerly known as Golovin Street, was built in the 19th century when M. S. Vorontsov was ruler of Georgia, was divided into two parts – Palace Street and the Golovin Avenue. In 1918, it named after medieval  Georgian poet Shota Rustaveli, author of the immortal poem “The Knight in the Panther’s Skin.”

The author (in blue jacket) walking among sea of Georgians all in dark-colored jackets

The author (in blue jacket) walking among a sea of Georgians, all in dark-colored jackets and overcoats (photo: Ms. Riva Galveztan)

A popular place for walking, I strolled along Rustaveli to soak up the bustling, cosmopolitan atmosphere of Tbilisi’s main thoroughfare which is lined with Oriental plane trees  (Platanus orientalis) and strung with a handsome mix of modern and 20th-century architecture, with a contrasting European/Russian (Neo-Classical) look, such as important governmental, public, cultural, and business buildings as well as various cafes, shops, restaurants and other entertainment places.

Oriental plane trees lining the sidewalks

Oriental plane trees lining the sidewalks

This fine, stately avenue, which leads off to the northwest, is one of the best architectural and tourist centers of Tbilisi.  However, it is spoilt by the amount of traffic roaring up and down it these days. There are a number of pedestrian underpasses, but people here also cross the road with great nonchalance, waiting on the centre line until there’s a gap.

Freedom Square

Freedom Square

Rustaveli Avenue (Rustavelis Gamziri in Georgian or Rustaveli Prospekt in Russian) starts at Freedom Square and extends for about 1.5 kms. before it turns into an extension of Kostavas Kucha (Kostava Street).  Also branching out from this square are five other streets – Pushkin Street, Leselidze Street, Shalva Dadiani Street, Galaktion Street, and Leonidze Street. At its far end is the Freedom Square Metro Station at Rustaveli 6 where I alighted and started my stroll.

Bronze statue of St. George slaying the Dragon

Bronze statue of St. George slaying the Dragon (photo: Ms. Riva Galveztan)

Freedom Square, first called Yerevan Square was, later in the Soviet period, renamed after Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria and then after Vladimir Lenin. In the center of Freedom Square (once occupied by a monument to Lenin which was symbolically torn down in August 1991) is the Monument of Freedom and Victory, a fountain with a very tall 40 m. high column topped by a bronze statue of St. George slaying the Dragon, a gift, unveiled on November 23, 2006, of famous Georgian sculptor Zurab Tsereteli to his native city.

Tbilisi Sakrebulo (City Assembly)

Tbilisi Sakrebulo (City Assembly)

The entire southern line of the square is occupied by the main Pseudo Moorish-style facade of Tbilisi Sakrebulo (City Assembly), a former town council building built in 1880 by German architect Peter Stern.  Its third storey, with a clock tower, was built between 1910 and 1912. This attractive building, with stripes of sandy green and white and mauresque stucco, now houses, at the eastern side of the ground floor, a well- equipped tourist information office, with plenty of free booklets, maps and helpful English-speaking staff, plus outlets of Burberry, Chronograph and Chopard.

Tbilisi National Youth Palace

Tbilisi National Youth Palace

The Tbilisi National Youth Palace, erected n 1802, was rebuilt many times, the last time from 1865-1868 when the building was enlarged by architect O. Simenson who added an arcade in front. From 1844 to 1917, the building was the residence of the Russian vice-regent in the Caucasus.  On May 26, 1918, during the meeting of the Transcaucasian Seim, the Georgian delegation left the hall and, in the adjacent White Hall, proclaimed Georgia a sovereign country.

Plaque commemorating the May 26, 1918 declaration of state independence

Plaque commemorating the May 26, 1918 declaration of state independence

At one time, Josef Stalin installed his mother here.  On May 2, 1941, during the Soviet period, it served as the Pioneers’ Palace, housing the Soviet youth organization and a Museum of Children’s Toys. Still used for youth activities, it is the best place to find classes and displays of Georgian folk dance and the like.  Around the palace is a well-kept garden, the back part of which faces Ingorokva Street. Aleksey Yermolov, the former Caucasian commander-in-chief, paid special attention to this garden, planting two large plane trees. In the past, the garden belonged to a princess of the Orbeliani family.

Old Parliarment Building

Old Parliarment Building (photo: Ms. Riva Galveztan)

Beyond the National Youth Palace is the Parliament Building, easily the most dominating building along Rustaveli Avenue.  Designed by architects Victor Kokorin and Giorgi Lezhava, it was built as a U-shaped block in 1938 (on the site of the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, built in the 19th century for the Russian army), it’s very solid portico of tuff was built by German prisoners-of- war and the building was opened in 1953. Its 16 columns symbolize the 16 Soviet republics.

National Gallery

National Picture Gallery

The National Picture Gallery (Blue Gallery), built in 1885,  was erected by the German architect Zalzman as the “Temple of Glory” to commemorate the victory of the Russian troops over the Persians. The trophy cannons recaptured from the Persian army, stood in front of the building in the last century.

School No. 1

School No. 1

Immediately beyond the Parliament Building is the High School No. 1, founded in 1802 as the first European-style high school in Transcaucasia.  It educated many of the leading figures of recent Georgian history, including Merab Kostava, Zviad Gamsakhurdia, Tengiz Sigua and Tengiz Kitovani.

Plaque commemorating the March 9, 1956 massacre at the former Communications Building

Plaque commemorating the March 9, 1956 massacre at the former Communications Building

A good example of Russian Neo-Classicism, it has statues of Ilia Chavchavadze and Akaki Tsereteli (1958) in front.  It houses the Museum of Education. A plaque here commemorates those killed by the Soviet security forces on March 9, 1956.

Tblisi Marriot Hotel

Tblisi Marriot Hotel

Past the school, Rustaveli Avenue bends to the left and I found myself in front of the Tbilisi Marriott Hotel (No. 13), one of the massive constructions of the 20th century.  Elegantly emphasizing the avenue’s bend, this building, opposite the Ministry of Transport and Communications, was designed by ethnic Armenian architect Gavriil Ter-Mikelov in 1915 as the Hotel Majestic.

Lobby of the Tblisi Marriot Hotel

Lobby of the Tblisi Marriot Hotel (photo: Ms. Riva Galveztan)

Later, it was renamed as Hotel Tbilisi.  During the 1991-1992 Civil War, the hotel was burned and was later restored and reopened in 2002 as the luxurious Marriott Hotel.

Rustaveli State Academic Theater

Rustaveli State Academic Theater

Next to the hotel is the famous, splendid Rustaveli State Academic Theater (No. 17), one of the most beautiful buildings along the avenue. Designed by architects K. Tatishev and Alexandre Shimkevich in the French Neo-Classical style from 1899 to 1901, in the past it housed the Actors’ Society Club.

Rustaveli State Academic Theater - facade detail

Rustaveli State Academic Theater – facade detail

Its ornate architecture involves the forms and motives of the Late Baroque Period, with mirror windows and a large portal. The theater was refurbished from 1920 to 1921, for the new Rustaveli Theatre Company, and was refurbished again from 2002 to 2005. Since 1921, the theater has carried the name of Shota Rustaveli, Georgia’s national poet.  In 2006, a Hollywood-style “Walk of the Stars” was begun in front.

Rustaveli State Academic Theater - facade detail

Rustaveli State Academic Theater – facade detail

It now houses a first-class theater, a large concert hall, a large and small ballroom, a small foyer, marble staircases, classical statues and a number of big and small rooms for the Actors’ Society Club. It has three stages – a main stage (about 800 seats), a smaller stage (300 seats) and a Black Box Theater (182 seats) for experimental performances. The Kimerioni (Chimera) Cafe-Bar, at the lower floor of the theater, has  frescoes  painted in 1919 by prominent Georgian painters Lado Gudiashvili and  David Kakabadze, theater set designer Serge Sudeikin as well as Sigizmund Valishevski (he was called Ziga in Tbilisi) and Moise and Iracly Toidze.  Nearby is the Theatrical Institute.

Opera and Ballet Theater

Paliashvili Opera and Ballet Theater

Not far from the Rustaveli State Academic Theater, along the north side of Rustaveli, is the elegant Paliashvili Opera and Ballet Theater (No. 25).   Formerly the Public Theater, it was first built in 1851 but burned down on October 11, 1874.  The present Moorish-Eastern style building was designed by architect Viktor Schroter and built from 1880 to 1896.

Z.Paliashvili Opera and Ballet Theatre

Z.Paliashvili Opera and Ballet Theater – intricate molding

In 1937, the theater was renamed in honor of Zakaria Paliashvili, one of Georgia’s greatest composers. It too burned down in 1973 but was rebuilt in 1977. Its towers, arches, turrets, stained glass windows, ornaments and intricate molding at the front entrance were all laboriously and meticulously made with special care.

Z.Paliashvili Opera and Ballet Theater - window ornamentation

Z.Paliashvili Opera and Ballet Theater – window ornamentation

The theater hosted, at different times, opera singers such as Fedor Shaliapin (who said “I was born twice: for life – in Kazan, for music – in Tbilisi”), Sergei Lemeshev, Vano Sarajishvili, Zurab Sotkilava, Paata Burchuladze, Jose Carreras and  Montserrat Caballe; and ballet dancer Vakhtang Chabukiani.

Kempinski Hotel

Kempinski Hotel

Nearing the end of Rustaveli Avenue, I espied another monumental building – the former Georgian branch of Marxism-Leninism Institute. Designed by architect A. Shukin and built in 1938, its frieze is decorated with bas reliefs made by Iakob Nikoladze. Since 1993, the Constitutional Court has had its sittings there. Today, it is now home to a 200-room hotel, 50 apartments and 8 penthouses designed by Alexey Shuyev and managed by Kempinski Hotels. The new building, incorporating the historic main façade, features a domed hotel lobby and an octagonal courtyard.

Georgian National Academy of Sciences Building

Georgian National Academy of Sciences Building

Just at the end of Rustaveli is the Georgian National Academy of Sciences, a pompous building designed by architects K. Chkheidze and M. Chkhikvadze in 1953.  It has a beautiful, low Italian-style colonnade; a solemn, angular tower revetted with Bolnisi tuff.

Tower of the Georgian National Academy of Sciences Building

Tower of the Georgian National Academy of Sciences Building

Between its columns is a through arcade where you can go to the lower station (which has an oval design) of the cableway leading to the upper plateau of Mtatsminda. On the steps of the academy artists and craftsmen sell their works.

Statue of Shota Rustaveli

Statue of Shota Rustaveli

My walking tour of Rustaveli Avenue was completed upon reaching the monument to the poet Shota Rustaveli, made by a sculptor K. Merabishvili.

Gen. Leandro Fullon National Shrine (Hamtic, Antique)

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From Tobias Fornier, we were driven, together with the other students, 22 kms. to the next town of Hamtic where we made a 15-min. stopover at Gen. Leandro Fullon National Shrine in front of the municipal hall and near the Church of St. Monica. Gen. Fullon, born in this coastal town on March 13, 1877, was a young student at the Colegio de San Juan de Letran in Manila, when the Philippine Revolution broke out in 1896.

The equestrian statue of Gen. Leandro Fullon

The equestrian statue of Gen. Leandro Fullon

He was made the commanding officer of the Visayan revolutionary forces by Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo and was sent, on September 6, 1898, with 140 officers and 350 men, to liberate Panay Island.  On November 22, Fullon’s forces captured San Jose de Buenavista where he set up a revolutionary provincial government.

Narration of the life and times of Gen. Fullon

Narration of the life and times of Gen. Fullon

During the Philippine-American War, he also fought the Americans, together with Gen. Martin Delgado, but was forced to surrender, together with his officers, on March 22, 1901.  When the Province of Antique was created by virtue of Act No. 114, Fullon was appointed, on April 15, 1901, as the province’s civil governor and served until his death on October 16, 1904.

Burial plaque

Burial plaque

His life-size statue, designed by National Artist Napoleon Abueva, was unveiled on March 13, 2004 by the National Historical Commission during the occasion of his 137th birth anniversary.  On October 16, Fullon’s 100th death anniversary, his remains were transferred, from La Paz Cemetery in Hamtic, to the base of the monument.

Hamtic Municipal Hall

Hamtic Municipal Hall

Church of St. Monica

Church of St. Monica

My visit to the general’s shrine was made more memorable by the fact that he was a distant relative, our common ancestor, both on our mother’s side, being Wo Sing Lok (or Sin Lok) from Amoy (old name for Xiamen, an island located in the southern part of Fujian Province at the mouth of Jiulong “nine dragon” River in China) who arrived in the Philippines and permanently settled at “Parian,” (now Molo) in Iloilo City. In 1780, Sing Lok was christened as Agustin Locsin when he married Cecilia Sayson, a mestiza daughter of an Ilongga and a sangley (local Chinaman), who were both devout Catholics. The Locsin clan began from this union.

How To Get There: Hamtic is located 7 kms. from San Jose de Buenavista.

Filipino Heroes Memorial (Corregidor Island)

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Our Corregidor Island tour included visits to the Japanese Garden of Peace and the Filipino Heroes Memorial, both a first for me as well as the rest of my family.

Check out “Japanese Garden of Peace“

Filipino Heroes Memorial

Filipino Heroes Memorial

Our first stop was the Filipino Heroes Memorial, one of the most recent additions to Corregidor.  This is a 6,000-sq. m. complex at Tailside designed by Arch. Francisco Mañosa and inaugurated on August 28, 1992 by Pres. Fidel V. Ramos.  It consists of 14 murals, chronologically encircling the park, done by sculptor Manuel Casal.  It depicts famous as well as obscure heroes who revolted and battled heroically through the centuries; from the Battle of Mactan (1521) to the People Power Revolt at EDSA (1986).

The Battle of Mactan

The Battle of Mactan

EDSA Revolution

EDSA Revolution

Other murals depicted include Datu Sirongan and Sultan Kudarat in Mindanao (16th to 17th century),  the Bankao’s Apostasy in Leyte (1621), Sumuroy Rebellion (1645-50), the Dagohoy Revolt (1744), the Palaris Revolt in Pangasinan (1782), Diego and Gabriela Silang in the Ilocos (1763), the Hermano Pule Revolt (1840-41), the Philippine Revolution (1896), the Filipino-American War of 1899, World War II and the Guerilla Movement.

Dagohoy Revolt

Dagohoy Revolt

Hermano Pule Revolt

Hermano Pule Revolt

Filipino-American War

Filipino-American War

World War II

World War II

A statue of a Filipino guerrilla was also sculpted by Manuel Casal. A piece of trivia we gathered from our tour guide was that, during the Japanese Occupation, Filipinos guerillas and spies disguised themselves as farmers. To distinguish the farmer from the guerilla, the Japanese employed the palm test: True farmers have hard, calloused palms, guerillas didn’t. There is a room dedicated to photos of prominent Filipinos who died for freedom and liberty.

Statue of the Filipino Guerilla

Statue of the Filipino Guerilla

Beside the Filipino Heroes Memorial is a small park dedicated to President Sergio Osmena, the second president of the Philippine Commonwealth. Erected in this park is the statue of Osmena which was inaugurated on May 23, 1998 through the efforts of the Corregidor Foundation and the Cebu Newspaper Workers’ Foundation with the assistance of the late Sen. Marcelo B. Fernan.

Statue of Pres. Sergio Osmena

Statue of Pres. Sergio Osmena

Sun Cruises, Inc. (SCI) – Reservation Office: CCP Terminal A, CCP Complex, Roxas Blvd., Manila.  Tel: (632) 831-8140 and (632) 834-6857 to 58.  Fax: (632) 834-1523.  E-mail: suncruises@magsaysay.com.ph.

Sun Cruises, Inc. (SCI) – Sales Office: 21/F,  Times Plaza Bldg., Ermita, Manila.  Tel: (632) 527-5555 local 4511 and 4512.  Fax: (632) 527-5555 local 4513.  E-mail: sales@suncruises.com.ph.

The Andres Bonifacio Monument (Caloocan City)

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A few days ago, I again got an invitation from Valenzuela City historian and museum curator Mr. Jonathan C. Balsamo, this time to attend the opening of the Valenzuela City Museum, the city’s second (after Museo Valenzuela). To get there, I took the LRT (Light Rail Transit) from the Gil Puyat Station (near which I parked my car), along Taft Ave., all the way to its terminus at at the Andres Bonifacio Monument.  At its end is the beginning of the MacArthur Highway (or Manila North Rd.), where I was to take a Malanday or Malinta-bound jeepney to Valenzuela City Hall.  West of the monument is Samson Rd..  As I still had time on my hands, I decided to view the monument up close.
 
The Andres Bonifacio Monument
Popularly called Monumento, the monument, dedicated to the lifework of Katipunan founder (July 7, 1892) Andres Bonifacio (the “Great Plebeian”), is also the terminal point of bus and jeepney routes.  The move to build it came from former Katipuneros, particularly Bonifacio friend Guillermo Masangkay.  On February 23, 1918, the Philippine Legislature passed Act No. 2760, approving the erection of a national monument in memory of Bonifacio. Eight years later, on August 29, 1930, a jury, headed by Arch. Andres Luna de San Pedro (the son of Spoliarium painter Juan Luna) and composed of sculptor Vicente Francisco and Arch. Tomas B. Mapua, was created and convened to select the best design for the monument.
 
Andres Bonifacio
The design chosen was from sculptor (and later National Artist for the Visual Arts in 1973) Guillermo E. Tolentino. On November 30, 1929,  its cornerstone was laid by First Lady Doña Aurora A. Quezon and was started in 1931 with the help of sculptor Anastacio T. Caedo.  It was inaugurated on November 30, 1933.  On August 17, 2002, it was declared as a National Monument, by the National Historical Institute, and a National Cultural Treasure, by the National Museum, on November 30, 2009. 
The ravages of Spanish colonial rule
The execution of Frs. Gomez, Burgos and Zamora
The monument, Caloocan City’s most famous landmark, is said to face Tondo (Manila), Bonfacio’s birthplace.  This sculptural masterpiece has 23 bronze figures surrounding a four-sided, 40-ft. high marble pylon that rises from a 4-sided marble base and is topped by the winged figure of victory.   At its base is a platform-like structure with figures symbolizing the causes of the Philippine Revolution.
 
NHI plaque
The pylon has 5 parts, each representing the 5 aspects of the Katipunan. The monument stands on a base in the shape of an octagon whose 8 sides symbolize the first 8 key provinces (Batangas, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, Manila, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga and Tarlac) placed under martial law for revolting against Spain and the 8 rays in the Philippine flag. The 3 steps leading up to the monument represent the 3 centuries (333 years to be exact) of Spanish rule.
 
Winged Victory
Bonifacio Monument: intersection of EDSA (Epifanio de los Santos Ave.), MacArthur Highway, Samson Rd. and Rizal Ave. Ext. (Avenida), Caloocan City, Metro Manila

National Revolutionary Martyr’s Shrine (Taipei City, Taiwan)

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After the Changing of the Guard ceremony at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial and photo ops at Liberty Square, we all returned to the van for our next destination, the 5,00 sq. m. National Revolutionary Martyrs’ Shrine, dedicated to the war dead of Taiwan.  Built in 1969 on Chingshan Mountain, overlooking the Keelung River, our visit to the Martyrs Shrine again recalls the architecture of the Hall of Supreme Harmony in Beijing’s Forbidden City as the buildings on the site were skillfully crafted and designed to look like Ming Dynasty palaces.

Gate at National Revolutionary Martyr’s Shrine

The structure houses the spirit tablets of about 390,000 persons killed, among other engagements, during the Xinhai Revolution, the Northern Expedition, the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Chinese Civil War and the First and Second Taiwan Strait Crises. It was also the site of the funeral of President Chiang Ching-kuo, the son of Chiang Kai-shek, on January 13, 1988.

The main sanctuary

Every March 29 (Youth Day, commemorating the Huanghuagang Uprising) and September 3 (Armed Forces Day) of every year, the country’s president  leads the heads of the five Yuans (branches of government) to pay their respects to the martyrs by bowing and offering incense.

One of the shrine’s pavilions

A changing of the honor guard (the last one at 4:40 PM), from the various branches of the military, similar to the rituals we saw at Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, also takes place at the shrine (and at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall)  but it wasn’t going to happen a second time.  Soldiers who have the honor of being guards at these shrines must be 1.75-1.95 m. (5′-9″-6′-3″) tall, weigh at least 65 kgs. (143 lbs.), have, at least, a high school education, have no criminal record and have lots of discipline as they have to stand still, even under the scorching sun, for an hour.  The guards on duty at this shrine, with their gleaming steel helmets, shiny leather boots and blue uniforms, were from the Air Force, 2 posted at the main shrine and 2 at the main gate along Beian Rd..

Jandy and I posing with the guard on duty

Although the Martyrs Shrine is located in Taiwan, most of the soldiers honored served China and were born in Chinese provinces. The main sanctuary was modeled after the Taiho Palace in Beijing. Plaques, paintings and friezes in the arcade surrounding the main sanctuary describe the details of various 20th-century rebellions and battles. A bell tower and drum tower are used during memorial ceremonies. Next to the shrine is the 12-storey, 490-room Grand Hotel, one of the world’s tallest Chinese classical buildings.  It was designed by Taipei-based architect Yang Cho-Cheng and completed on October 10, 1973.

National Revolutionary Martyr’s Shrine: 139 Beian Rd., Shilin, Taipei, Taiwan. Tel: (+886-2) 2349 1635 and (+886-2) 2885-4162. Open daily (except Saturdays), 9 AM-5 PM. Admission is free.

How to Get There: take a taxi from Jiantan or Yuanshan MRT stations or take the free shuttle bus from Yuanshan MRT station to the Grand Hotel, then walk 15 mins. east, alons Bei-an Road (ask for directions at The Grand Hotel).

Grand Hotel: No. 1, Section 4, Zhōngshān North Rd., Jhongshan District.  Tel:
(+886-2) 2886-8888.  Website:  www.grand-hotel.org.

Chang Kai-shek Memorial Hall – Changing of the Honor Guard Ceremony (Taipei City, Taiwan)

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Soon the memorial was officially opened and we were led up to the main hall where a crowd of tourists were already gathered.  The hall’s main feature is the massive 3-storey high bronze statue of a smiling Chiang, in traditional Chinese dress, sitting on a  dais. An elaborate caisson is set into the ceiling  which is also decorated with the emblem of the Kuomintang (KMT).  Chinese inscriptions on the walls are the characters for Ethics, Democracy, and Science.

The bronze sitting statue of Chiang Kai-Shek

Five members of the Taiwan Marines , in immaculately white uniforms and helmets, were guarding the main hall with rifles with fixed bayonets. The branch of service represented here changes periodically according to a rotating schedule  (every 4 months).  The Army wears green uniforms, the Navy wears  black in summer and white in winter, and the Air Force wears blue.

The Main Hall’s ceiling

The much anticipated, impressively synchronized Changing of the Guards ceremony soon took place at the appointed time (it takes place every hour). At this formal, elaborate and precisely choreographed ceremony, the ceremonial guards are relieved by a new batch of sentries. This ceremony is also conducted at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall and the National Revolutionary Martyr’s Shrine.

The Changing of the Guard ceremony

Chang Kai-shek Memorial Hall: 21 Zongshan South Rd., Section 1, Zhongzheng District, Taipei, Taiwan.  Tel: (+886-2) 2343-1100. Open daily, 9 AM-6:30 PM. Admission is free.

How to Get There: Take THSR or train to Taipei Station then transfer, via Taipei MRT, to Chiang Kaishek Memorial Hall Station.

Chang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Cultural Center (Taipei City, Taiwan)

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Liberty Square

From Tung Ho Zen Temple, we again boarded our van and went on our way to our next destination, the National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, erected in memory of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek (October 31, 1887-April 5, 1975), Taiwan’s long-time leader.  Here, we were to observe the 9 AM Changing of the Honor Guard ceremony.

Presidential Office Building

Along the way to the hall, we passed the Neo-Renaissance-style Presidential Office Building, an elaborate red brick edifice built in 1919. It was already drizzling when we arrived at the Memorial Hall’s tremendous, 30 m. (98.4 ft.) high and 80 m. (262.4  ft.) high arched main gate  (which faces Chiang’s beloved China) – the Gate of Great Centrality and Perfect Uprightness.

Gate of Great Centrality and Perfect Uprightness

The main gate opened into Liberty Square with its grand vista reminiscent of my visit to Beijing’s Forbidden City, with the massive and ornate National Theater (on the south) and National Concert Hall (on the north) flanking it.  Both, completed in 1987, were modeled after the Forbidden City’s Halls of Supreme Harmony and Preserving Harmony and painted in the same brilliant Ming Dynasty style.

National Concert Hall

Added to it are immaculate grounds featuring lovely traditional Chinese sculpted gardens, miniature hills, an ornamental bridge, waterfalls and serene ponds (filled with colorful koi), truly a scene from the 1987 Bernardo Bertolucci classic film The Last Emperor.  The Gate of Great Loyalty also stands at the north side (along Xinyi Rd.) while the Gate of Great Piety stands at the south side (along Aiguo East Rd.).

National Theater

From the gate, we all walked along the Boulevard of Homage (bordered by manicured bushes), to the east end of the square where the magnificent, 76 m. (250 ft.) high 240,000 sq. m. memorial hall stands.  It has a marble facade and octagonal (the octagonal shape picks up the symbolism of the number 8, a number traditionally associated in Asia with abundance, wealth and good fortune), twin-eaved roof of brilliant blue tiles with red accents (echoing the flag of the Republic of China) crowned by a golden spur.

Chang Kai-shek Memorial Hall

The memorial’s design was based on the winning competition entry of the late, internationally renowned Chinese architect Yang Cho-cheng. Yang’s design incorporated many elements of traditional Chinese  architecture.  Started on October 31, 1976 (the 90th anniversary of Chiang’s birth), the hall was officially opened on April  5, 1980 (the fifth anniversary of the leader’s death). The hall has 2 sets of stairs, each with 89 steps, representing the age of Chiang Kai-shek at the time of his death. We didn’t climb the stairs. Instead we entered the hall via a huge doorway by the side of the stairs.

Jandy at entrance hallway

We arrived early, still minutes before the hall’s opening, so we first listened to Mr. Pang’s narrative of Chiang’s life.  Also at the ground floor is a museum with exhibit related to the late president’s life including his personal effects, photos, a mock-up of one of his offices and his bulletproof Cadillac.

Part of the ground floor museum exhibit

Chang Kai-shek Memorial Hall: 21 Zongshan South Rd., Section 1, Zhongzheng District, Taipei, Taiwan.  Tel: (+886-2) 2343-1100. Open daily, 9 AM-6:30 PM. Admission is free.

National Chiang Kai-shek Cultural Center: Tel: (+886-2) 3393-9888.

How to Get There: Take THSR or train to Taipei Station then transfer, via Taipei MRT, to Chiang Kaishek Memorial Hall Station.

The Country’s Tallest Rizal Monument (Calamba City, Laguna)

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The new Rizal Monument

Unusually August 27 to 30, a long vacation, came and go without me and my son Jandy getting out of town due to Typhoon Mina (international name: Nanmadol). Thus, when the sun shone a bit the next day (still no classes for Jandy), we decided to hop into my Toyota Revo and go on a joy ride around Laguna, from Calamba City to Sta. Cruz, photographing historical sites and old churches along the way.Traveling via the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX), I took the Calamba Exit and made our first stopover at Calamba City, the birthplace of National Hero Jose Rizal, by noon.

The Calamba City Hall

Across the modern, 4-storey City Hall (inaugurated on August 16, 2005) along Bacnotan Road, on a 6.7-hectare government property, is the 6.7 m. (22-ft., representing the 22 languages Rizal spoke) high bronze statue of Rizal, said to be the tallest statue of the National Hero anywhere in the world.  The previous one was a 16-ft. high bronze statue, built by naturalized Jordanian philanthropist Mahmoud Asfour, in Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya,

It stands on a tiled concrete pedestal mounted on a platform surrounded on all 4 sides by 15-step (representing 150 years) flights of stairs.  Calamba City is also home to the smallest statue of Rizal, a bronze statue of Rizal as a child in the Rizal Shrine,  done by Duddley Diaz and unveiled on June 19, 1998.  The Rizal Shrine is a 10-min. drive from the monument.

Posing beside the plaque

The monument was unveiled, by Pres.  Benigno Aquino III, during the 150th birth anniversary of Rizal  last June 19, 2011.  If measured from its concrete base, the whole monument stands 4 storeys high. The statue, started in December 2010, was designed and executed by 35 year old sculptor Jose Dionas “Jonas” Roces of Marikina City with about a dozen assistants.  Roces also did medium-sized sculpture of Pres. Aquino’s parents, martyred opposition leader Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. and the late Pres. Corazon Aquino.

NOTE: This Rizal statue was the tallest one from 2011 until 2014 when the 7.93 m. (26 ft.) high bronze Rizal Monument, sculpted by Toym Imao (son of National Artist for Sculpture Abdulmari Asia Imao), was unveiled in Santa Cruz, Laguna for the 2014 Palarong Pambansa  hosted by the province. Depicting Rizal wearing a fencing uniform and holding an epee, it is the only one of its kind in the world.

Rizal Monument: Calamba’s Real Village, Brgy. Real, Calamba City, Laguna.

A Walking Tour of Mauban (Quezon)

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The Municipal Hall

We finally arrived at Mauban, at the midst of its Maubanog Festival, by 4 PM and we made a stopover at the municipal hall were we all dropped by the Municipal Tourism Office and paid a courtesy call on Mayor Fernando Q. Llamas, the uncle of our good friend Lee Llamas.  Prominently displayed outside the municipal hall is an old cannon, 1 of 3 (the other 2 are at the Museo ng Mauban) bestowed by Spanish Gov.-Gen. Rafael Maria Aguilar to the town as a reward for the rescue efforts done for the Spanish friars captured by Moro pirates. The cannon were later used against the Spanish to effect the surrender of Tayabas to the revolutionaries in 1898.  All 3 were  restored on April 16, 2004.  

Traditional Mauban products

After our courtesy call on the Mayor, we  all dropped by the Mauban Product Development Office, beside the municipal hall, to check out the town’s traditional products such as finely-crafted nilala woven hats, baskets, slippers, wallets, bags, boxes, caddies, etc.;  delicacies such as pinangat, binalawan, pinais, tikoy, kalamay, pastillas, botarts, mazapan, suspiro, etc.; and nipanog, wine made with sasa (toddy palm nectar) instead of coconut and available in different flavors such as liputi, katmon, guyabano, mango, pineapple, guava, jackfruit, kalamias, tamarind and santol. Being a fiesta, booths selling these products, and more, were found in front of the municipal hall as well as along the major streets. 

Church of St. Bonaventure

While they were checking out the products, I took time out to visit the town’s present, modern Church of St. Bonaventure (the town’s patron saint).   This church underwent a lot of rebuilding since it was first built in 1647 and demolished in 1769.  The second structure, built in 1773, was badly damaged during the 1830 earthquake and rebuilt between 1836 and 1845.  The church collapsed during the July 1880 earthquake and the present church was built in 1891.  The bell tower, built in 1773, was seriously damaged during the 1880 earthquake and the portion that remained was partially destroyed again during the August 20, 1937 earthquake. 

Gat Uban Park

With the sun still up, we still had time to make a walking tour to Gat Uban Park, at the end of Gomez St., along the sea wall.  The park has a seaward facing statue the legendary Dumagat warrior and leader Gat Pangil who defended the town against ruthless Moro attacks.  Gat Pangil was also known as Gat Uban because of his gray hair (uban).  Accordingly, the town was named after the fact.  The well-lighted promenade area, with its gentle sea breeze, is a favorite meeting place for Maubanons. 

View from Rizal Hill Park

It was near sunset when we dropped by Rizal Hill Park (locally called Calvario Hill), along San Buenaventura St. in Brgy. Rizaliana.  To get to the top, we had a  choice of taking the shorter route (climbing a steep concrete stairway) or the longer route via a winding ramp skirting the hill.  Of course, we chose the latter.  At the top of the hill is a statue of National Hero Jose Rizal, erected on December 1912 by the Mauban Circle Association of Students.  The  park offers a panoramic view of the whole town.  In olden times, the hill was used as a sentinel post and a place for religious activities during the Spanish era, as headquarters by American troops, as an outpost by the Philippine Constabulary during the Japanese Occupation and, after the war, by the Civilian Emergency Administration.

Rizal Hill Park

Soon after our arrival,  Mr. Ludovico Badoy and Ms. Carminda R. Arevalo, Executive Director  and Officer-in-Charge (NHCP Research, Publications and Heraldry Division), respectively, of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP), formerly the National Historical Institute (NHI), also arrived.  They supervised the installation of a historical marker recognizing the hill for its historical significance.  The marker was to be unveiled the next day, with Mayor Llamas and Mr. Badoy leading the ceremony.  It was now evening when we left the hill and, after dinner at the house of Mayor Llamas, we were billeted for the night at the nearby Llamas ancestral house.

Municipal Tourism Office – Municipal Hall, Poblacion, Mauban, Quezon.  Tel: (042) 784-1205 and 713-0314.  E-mail: gat_uban@yahoo.com.

First Rizal Monument (Daet, Camarines Norte)

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First Rizal Monument

One of the highlights of our last visit to Camarines Norte (aside from the Pinyasan Festival) was the celebration of our National Hero Jose Rizal’s 150th birth anniversary. Daet figures prominently in this nationwide celebration because it is the site of the first and oldest monument erected in honor of Rizal (though he never set foot in the town) in the country (antedating, by 14 years, the more famous one built in Luneta in 1912) and in the world.

Check out “Pinyasan Festival 2011“

Last June 19, some 1,500 youth of the province, all belonging to various schools and organizations, joined a mass floral offering at the First Rizal Monument, all vowing to keep the libertarian ideals of Rizal alive and to help contribute in nation-building.  A history forum, with Prof. Danilo M. Gerona of the Ateneo de Naga University, was also held there.

Plaque

The monument, at the corner of Justo Lukban and Magallanes Iraya Sts., at Rizal Square, Kalayaan Park (the park was said to be the site where the Katipuneros held their ground during the April 14-18, 1898 uprising), in front of the old municipal hall (now the Daet Heritage Center), is a 3-tiered, 20-ft. high stone pylon designed by Lt.-Col. Antonio Sanz, a soldier-artist and revolutionary head of the local government, and Lt.-Col. Ildefonso Alegre.  It was built through the financial contributions of the townsfolk of Camarines Norte and the Bicol region.  Oral accounts say that the base contains a time capsule containing the list of contributors to the project while some quarters and treasure hunters believe that there were buried treasures around it.

The groundbreaking for the construction of this sparsely decorated but impressive and majestic monument, near the bank of the Daet River, was done on December 30, 1898 (just two years after Rizal’s death), in observance of the first-ever Rizal Day (the first province to do so), decreed on December 20 by then Pres. Emilio Aguinaldo, and completed sometime in February 1899, shortly after the outbreak of the Philippine-American War. Its foundation is believed to have been made with mortar and coral stone taken from the demolished old Spanish jail where many patriots, in April 1898, were tortured and executed. The monument is rather unique as it does not bear a sculpted image of Rizal, unlike other monuments today.

Inscribed on the square podium, surmounted by a two-level triangle (the last one tapering off to a point), are Rizal’s popular novels, “Noli Me Tangere 1886” and “El Filibusterismo 1891,” and “Morga 1889,” a tribute to Antonio de Morga, author of Sucesos de las islas Filipinas, an important book on the Spanish colonization of the Philippines written in 1609 and later annotated by Rizal. Ironically, the Rizal Monument came to be known as “Morga Monument.”  On the sides of the triangle is a five-pointed star, an eight-rayed sun and the Spanish phrase A Jose Rizal (“to Jose Rizal”) and at the top used to be the all-seeing eye.  The front face contains a black metal plaque, from the then National Historical Commission, declaring it a National Historical Landmark in 1961. The monument has pronounced Masonic elements possibly because Rizal, Emilio Aguinaldo, Sanz, Gen. Vicente Lukban (head of Revolutionary forces in the Bicol Region) and many of the financial contributors were Masons. Today, the image of the First Rizal Monument is incorporated in the provincial and municipal (of Daet) insignias.