Category Archives: Churches

Cathedral of the Holy Rosary (Angeles City, Pampanga)

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Cathedral of the Holy Rosary

The Cathedral of the Holy Rosary was first built of light materials (nipa) and of wood in 1855 by Fr. Guillermo Masnou.  The present stone and brick edifice was started in 1860 by Fr. Ramon Sarrionandia through the forced labor system (Pols y Servicios), continued by Fr. Juan Merino in 1880 and completed by Fr. Pedro Ibeas in 1891.

Historical plaque

It was restored by Fr. Rufino Santos from 1893 to 1897.  The backyard of the church was an execution ground for Filipino rebels from1896 to 1898.  Later, it was used by the U.S. Army as a military hospital from August 1899 to December 1900.

The cathedral’s Renaissance-style facade

The cathedral, measuring 70 m. long, 20 m. wide, and 12 m. high, has a beautiful transept and a Renaissance style of Corinthian pilasters and recessed arch and segmented windows topped by triangular canopies.

One of two bell towers

There is a projecting portico with elliptical arches at the main entrance.  Spandrel and pier dados are ornamented with relief carvings.  Flanking the facade are twin bell towers moving upward in a slow sweep and in uneven levels.  The window casements have Renaissance-influenced latticework.

The cathedral’s interior

The main altar and retablo

Cathedral of the Holy Rosary: Sto. Entierro cor. Sto. Rosario St., Angeles City, Pampanga. Feast of the Holy Rosary: Second Sunday of October.

How to Get There: Angeles City is located 82.8 kms. (a 2-hour drive) from Manila and 13 kms. (a 30-min. drive) west of the City of San Fernando.

San Agustin Church (Manila)

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Francis and Vicky Dionela, our balikbayan relatives, from Vienna, Austria, were in town  and my brother-in-law Mark and I toured them around Intramuros, availing of a calesa to do so.   Joining us were Mark’s sons Miguel and Matthew.  The first stop in our calesa tour was  the San Agustin Church.  I have been inside this church a couple of times, notably during the wedding of the former Susan O. Bilog, my wife’s first cousin, to Alfredo Azarcon on January 31, 2001.  However, this was my opportunity to explore it in detail.  During our visit, the church was again being prepared for another wedding.

San Agustin Church

Named after St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, San Agustin Church is the fifth church to be built in the country.  The mother church of the Augustinian Order, it is said to be the first mission constructed in Intramuros after the defeat of Rajah Sulayman by Miguel Lopez de Legaspi in 1571.  The first two churches were destroyed by fire on December 2, 1574 during invasion of Chinese pirate Limahong and by fire caused by a candle spark on February 28, 1583 during Gov.-Gen. Gonzalo Ronquillo de Penalosa‘s funeral.  Again fire damaged the church on the evening of March 30, 1586.  It was also damaged during the major earthquakes of 1645, 1754, 1852, June 3, 1863 and July 19, 1880.  During World War II, it was the only church in Intramuros (there are 7) to have survive the American bombardment during the liberation of Manila in 1945. Only the roof was destroyed.  However, the adjacent monastery was totally destroyed but rebuilt in 1970.  It is now the San Agustin Museum.  In 1994, the church was declared by the UNESCO as a World Heritage Site for Baroque Churches.

       
The adjacent San Agustin Museum

The present 67.15 m. long and 24.93 m. wide church, one of the most typical examples of the colonial Semi-Classical styles, was built between 1587 and 1604 by Juan Macias (said to be a Pampango builder) using hewn adobe stones quarried from Guadalupe, Meycauayan, San Mateo and Binangonan.  It has not undergone major change except for minor restorations and its being able to withstand 5 major earthquakes is attributed to its elliptical foundation (like the hull of the ship) and 1.5-m. thick walls.

       
Corridors leading to the San Agustin Museum

Its design shows Mexican influence.  The unassuming Neo-Classical façade has two levels.  The first level has 4 pairs of Ionic columns and statued niches filling the walls.  The second level has an equal number of Corinthian columns, semicircular arches and square windows.  Above it is a triangular pediment with a circular window.

       
TheProto-Baroque molave main door

The church interior is in the form of a Latin cross.  It has 14 side chapels. The original retablo, built in 1671 by Juan de los Santos, was replaced in 1681, coated with gold leaves in 1704, but was defaced in the British invasion in 1762.  The courtyard entrance and columned facade are guarded by granite lions (fu dogs) given by Chinese converts. 

       
The church interior

The church originally had two four-storey hexagonal bell towers, but the left one was dismantled after the 1863 earthquake.  It has an intricately carved, 24 ft. high and 16 ft. wide Proto-Baroque molavemain door with 4 panels depicting Augustinian symbols, an exquisite Baroque narra pulpit carved in 1627, tombstones on the floor and 12 side chapels (originally 14) dedicated to various saints. 

     
The tromp-l’oeil ceiling

Its vaulted tromp-l’oeil (from the French word meaning “deceives the eye”) ceiling, from which hang 16 crystal chandeliers from Paris (1879-80), was painted by Italian artists Giovanni Alberoni and Caesar Dibella in 1875.  Viewing it from below, the designs appear as 3-dimensional.

      
The pulpit

The magnificent choir loft, the only one of its kind in the country, has 68 beautifully handcrafted molaveseats with ivory encrustations supported by huge elliptical arches.  It was ordered by Fr. Miguel Serrano and brought in from Macao by Bishop Hernando Guerrero in 1614.   A crucifix here dates from the 17th century.  The big lectern has 16th and 17th century cantorals.

       
The main altar

Its 18th century pipe organ was newly-restored and inaugurated on November 1998.  Its classical tones, to which are attached renowned composers  Fr. Manuel Arostegui and Pakil (Laguna)-born Marcelo Adonay, echoed again during the 3-day Second International Music Festival  hosted by San Agustin Church.

       
A side altar

The remains of Miguel Lopez de Legaspi, Martin de Goiti, Juan de Salcedo and various early governors and archbishops are buried in a communal vault in a side chapel to the left of the main altar. Their bones were mixed up when the British desecrated their graves when they sacked Manila from October 6-7, 1762.  The reclining bronze statue of Legaspi was done by Spanish sculptor Juan Miguel Iriarte.  The remains of painter Juan Luna, and statesmen Pedro Paterno and Trinidad Pardo de Tavera are also housed in the church.


Another side altar

San Agustin Church: Cor. Gen. Luna St. and Calle Real, Intramuros, Manila.

Church of St. Fabian, Pope & Martyr (San Fabian, Pangasinan)

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Originally built with brick in 1768 by Dominican Fr. Francisco Ferrer, the Church of St. Fabian, Pope and Martyr, as well as the semi-claustral convent (which was constructed in 1763 by Fr. Holego Francisco Ferrer and converted into a public oratory), were destroyed by a fire in 1856 and subsequently restored.

The Church of St. Fabian, Pope & Martyr

The Church of St. Fabian, Pope & Martyr

Fr. Juan Gutiérrez, O.P. (1859-1862) rebuilt the church and the sanctuary (1857 and 1860) in cruciform (59.85 m. long and 11.40 m. wide; at the cruciform, 20 m.). In 1863, the present masonry church, convent and bell tower were built by Fr. Ramon Fernandez (parish priest from 1860 to 1870).

The restored, 5-storey octagonal bell tower

The restored, 5-storey octagonal bell tower

The massive earthquake of March 16, 1892 again damaged the church and convent which were later rehabilitated. On January 1945, during World War II, the church was damaged and bell tower and convent were destroyed by American naval shelling and, in 1952, the church and a portion of the convent were repaired by Engr. Santiago Alhambra, Fr. Francisco Posadas (1944-1952) and Fr. Emeterio Domagas.  In 2003, the bell tower was fully restored.

The church interior

The church interior

Church of St. Fabian, Pope & Martyr: Braganza St., San Fabian, 2433 Pangasinan. Tel: (075) 511-4841.

How to Get There: San Fabian is located 28 kms. east-northeast of Lingayen and about 184 kms. northwest of Manila.

Church of St. Peter & St. Paul (Calasiao, Pangasinan)

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This church is one of the largest in Pangasinan.  The original church was destroyed by earthquake and burned in 1736 during the Palaris Revolt.  The present structure was built in 1753 by Fr. Dalmau, burned in 1852 and rebuilt from 1853 to 1858 by Fr. Ramon Suarez.

Church of St. Peter & St. Paul

Church of St. Peter & St. Paul

The massive March 16, 1892 earthquake damaged the church. The massive July 16, 1990 earthquake destroyed its bell tower. Msgr. Luis B. Ungson reconstructed the church, restoring the bricked front wall, antique statues and the ceiling’s original floral motif. In 2001, the church was declared as a National Cultural Treasure by the National Museum of the Philippines and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts.

The restored 5-storey bell tower

The restored 5-storey bell tower

The church is 88.3 m. long, 25 m. wide and 27.3 m. high.  The adjoining sprawling convent is 75 m. long, 25 m. wide and has two yards.  The church’s imposing Renaissance-style brick and cement facade has columns that rise from the first level to the window sill.  Its pediment has a well-defined cornice and a statued niche at the tympanum flanked by two circular windows.  Its 30-m. high, hexagonal, 5-storey bell tower, one of the best in the province, has pinnacles at each level, arched windows with columned jambs and cantons at the corners.   Its retablo mayor, ornately decorated with statues of saints, is massive and complex woodwork is seen at the back.

The church interior

The church interior

Church of St. Peter & St. Paul : Poblacion West, Calasiao, Pangasinan,

How to Get There: Calasiao is located 207 kms. from Manila.

 

Church of St. Dominic Guzman (San Carlos City, Pangasinan)

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The town’s first church was built at the western side of the Agno River (near Zambales) where the town of Binalatongan (renamed as San Carlos in 1764) was originally located. On September 1587, the church was destroyed by fire and the church was reconstructed at Baloydaan at the eastern part of the river. On August 4, 1718, the church was again damaged by a fire. The town of Baloydaan was transferred to its present site and, after the 1763 uprising, was renamed as San Carlos in 1764.

Church of St. Dominic Guzman

Church of St. Dominic Guzman

The city’s present church, its fourth, was built with bricks (ladrillo) from 1770 to 1773 by Fr. Cristobal P. Ausina. During the late 1700s, iIt used to be the largest Catholic church in the Philippines but was heavily damaged during the 1796, 1798 and 1799 earthquakes.    Between 1802 and 1804, the church was reconstructed.

Image-03

Now measuring 89 yards (267 ft.) long and 22 yards (66 ft.), its wall height was lowered and the foundations were strengthened with buttresses.  In 1822, both the church and its convent were razed by fire and the church was rebuilt before 1864.  From 1878 up to 1890, Fr. Alvarez Carrozal initiated the rehabilitation of the church and the adjoining 4-storey bell tower was also erected during his time.

The 4-storey bell tower

The 4-storey bell tower

The church’s 4-level Baroque  facade has a huge pediment (formed from the two upper levels) painted with a picture of Saint Dominic and embellished with a raking cornice with huge, elegantly designed scrolls.  Through the designs along its wall planes, the middle segment gives contrast within the levels.

The church interior

The church interior

How to Get There: San Carlos City is located 227 kms. from Manila.

Church of St. Raymond of Penafort (Mangatarem, Pangasinan)

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The town’s present one-nave church replaced a wooden church built, from 1835 to 1844, by Fr. Joaquin Perez but burned in 1862. Fr. Manuel Alvarez de Manzano laid the church’s new 6 yard thick and 6 yard deep foundation.  The construction of the church was continued by Fr. Suarez until 1875. By 1880, the façade was completed and the church was finished by Fr. Vicente Iztequi.  The church was damaged during the July 16, 1990 earthquake.

Church of St. Raymond of Penafort

Church of St. Raymond of Penafort

Formerly the largest in the country, this church has a simple Early Renaissance sandstone facade with a low pediment and upper and lower levels separated by dentil-like elements.  Niches, windows, and the doorway relieve the monotony of the simple facade. The walls used finely hewn and squared ashlar stones hewn from the stone quarries along the mountain rangesof Malabobo, located 8 kms. from the town. The church measures 82.40 m. long and 16 m. wide while the transept is 51.70 m. long and 15.40 m. wide. The sidewalls measure 2.5 yards wide while the façade and the back walls are 3.5 yards wide.

The church's simple Early Renaissance sandstone facade

The church’s simple Early Renaissance sandstone facade

Fr. Manzano also began constructing the two bell towers and was continued by his successors, including Fr. Iztequi, but the towers were never completed, reaching only 6 m. high and remains so up to this day.  Fr. Perez built the 45 yard long and 20 yard wide brick convent in 1847 but this was also burned in 1862.  The present convent was built, on the same foundation of the former, by Fr. Iztequil from 1875 to 1886.

The church's interior

The church’s interior

How to Get There: Mangatarem is located 177 kms. from Manila and 23 kms. south of Lingayen.

St. Peter Metropolitan Cathedral (Davao City, Davao del Sur)

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St. Peter Metropolitan Cathedral

The St. Peter Metropolitan Cathedral (also referred to as the San Pedro Cathedral or Davao Cathedral), dedicated to Saint Peter, is the ecclesiastical seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Davao. It is located in front of the Sangguniang Panglungsod (City Council) ng Dabaw Building.

First built using nipa and bamboo in 1847 by Don Jose Oyanguren, it was later demolished subsequently rebuilt in wood in the Neo-Gothic style in the mid 1900s by the late Architect Ramon Basa.  During World War II, it was said to have been turned into a horse stable by Japanese troops. In 1964, due to its small size, it was finally remodelled in concrete, glass and metal by Architect Manuel Chiew.

Being of recent origin, it doesn’t have the weathered look of heritage churches. Still, it has a turbulent history as the cathedral has been a witness to two grenade bombing incidents.

The main altar

The first incident, on April 19, 1981 (Easter Sunday), killed 17 people and injured 157. Again, on December 28, 1993 (Holy Innocents Day), another bombing resulted in 6 deaths and 151 injured (32 seriously).

From the outside, the distinctive modern façade is a departure from the usual façade of Catholic churches, with Islamic elements incorporated into its design.  Its curved, gray roof looks like a bow of a vinta (a traditional boat made by the Badjao tribe in Southern Mindanao) sailing over waters with a Christian cross in the middle as the rudder.

The arched windows, flanking the cathedral’s main doorway, hint at traditional Gothic design. The old altar, designed by Ramon Basa, with antique images of different saints, is preserved at the cathedral’s right wing.

The old altar at the right wing of the cathedral

The separate imposing bell tower, standing by a corner in the courtyard, has a replica of the the Pieta (a statue of the sorrowful Blessed Virgin Mary with the dead body of her son, Jesus Christ, on her lap), adorning a pocket garden, and the two concrete tablets of the Ten Commandments of God.

The separate bell tower

St. Peter Metropolitan Cathedral: San Pedro St., Barangay Poblacion District, Davao City, Davao del Sur. Tel: (082) 227-2317, 227-2398 and 226-4740.

Church of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception (Hilongos, Leyte)

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Continuing on our way to Maasin City, Doods and I traveled the next 44 kms., past the towns of Inopacan and Hindang, to Hilongos. There, we made a brief stopover at the town’s Spanish-era, fortified Church of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception.  This church was built by Jesuit friars in the 18th century and renovated by secular Fr. Leonardo Celis-Diaz, a native of Cebu.   

The modern Church of Our Lady of the Immaculate
Conception.  On its left is its Spanish-era bell tower

The original church, now incorporated as a transept, was a single-nave structure whose main door was also the gate to a bastioned fortification.  Some bastions and walls of that fortification still remain.  The main nave of the church is a modern construction and the church interior is completely new.

Ruins of the bastioned fortification

However, the town is more known for its octagonal flanking bell tower, now considered as the highest existing bell tower built in the Spanish era.  Also built by Fr. Celis-Diaz, this  independent multi-storey structure is now plastered over with Portland cement.   The convent, probably completed in the 19th century, houses many of the church’s antiques including silver vessels from the 18th century.

Baybay City (Leyte)

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After breakfast at Bahia Coffee Shop, I was picked up at the Hotel Don Felipe lobby by Mr. Doods Alcaraz, a medical representative requested by my sister-in-law Paula to drive me to Maasin City where I was to do map updating for United Tourist Promotions (makers of EZ Maps).  We used Dood’s car for this purpose.  We left Ormoc City by 8:30 AM.  The Maharlika Highway, though concreted, was pockmarked with cracks and potholes and first time drivers along this route would have to drive with caution.  Doods, however, frequently plied this route and knew it like the palm of his hand. 

Baybay City Hall

After 46 kms., past the town of Albuera, we made our first stopover for  merienda at a Jollibee outlet at the new component city of Baybay (it became such by virtue of Republic Act No. 9389 and was ratified by a plebiscite held on June 16, 2007) on the central west coast of Leyte where ferries leave for Cebu and the other islands.  This wasn’t my first visit to the city as its port was our jump-off point for our April 22, 2000 visit to the Cuatro Islas (under the jurisdiction of Inopacan).   

Baybay Port

On November 18, 2008, the Supreme Court struck down Baybay’s cityhood law, making Baybay a municipality again.  On December 22, 2009, acting on the appeal of the so-called “League of 16 Cities” (of which Baybay is a part of), the Supreme Court reversed its earlier ruling but, on August 24, 2010, again reinstated its 2008 decision. On February 15, 2011, the Supreme Court upheld, for the third time, the cityhood of Baybay.  Baybay is a city again.

After merienda, I dropped by the town’s Spanish-era Church of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception.  The church was built in 1852 by Fr. Vicente E. Coronado and continued under the supervision of Maestro Proceso from Manila.  In 1866, fire destroyed the church except for the Chapel of the Holy Cross.  It was repaired in 1870 and finished by painter and sculptor capitán Mateo Espinoso (probably a local dignitary and artisan). 

Church of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception

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