April 4th, 2006 |
Tumauini, Cauayan City and Ilagan old brick churches are next…
San Matias Church
Probably the best brick church in the country and by the Dominicans! The first time I saw this church was a few years ago, still lugging a film camera, I visited this church on a whim when I had a scheduled training in Makati. I saw it in one of the books and its sight just blew me away! Now featured in the Smart - Department of Tourism commercial, I can’t just help but express awe once again when I visited this church for the second time. Its the unique artistic embellishments that decorate the facade, the seeming play by the designer, the massive rose window and the wedding cake like belfry that makes this church (started around 1780) very unique. I’m looking forward to go back to this church this month.
This church used to have an attached cemetery at its left flank but only a small portion of the fence remains. I was told by the parish priest that a few years back, a congressman took these ancient bricks to decorate their house in Manila.
Cauayan Church
I never thought that there exists a beautiful and old church in Cauayan City until I passed this and accidentally glanced to the right while riding the bus for my supposed trip to Ilagan for a night’s stay. I was just struck by its antiquated look that’s why I stopped at the bus terminal and booked a room in a hotel here. The church still retains its charms despite poor maintenance. Another stunning example of the Dominican’s brick churches that almost have the same template in architecture. The church is having a series of renovations in the interior. It has been expanded to hold a larger crowd but then, so is its centuries old walls falling under the expansionist’s plans.
As it was Sunday and the city’s people were going to mass, I saw this old lady, still dressed in the baro’t saya, the national dress that is just a rarity in modern Philippines unless its an event. But here? This is really a dying practice.
Ilagan Cathedral
At first I was disappointed that this might be a more recent church. However on close inspection, the facade and sides were renovated, its face covered with a layer of cement, painted and simplified. The original brick work can still be found in the interior and on the lateral side where the cement crumbled. Did the original was constructed in the same style as the rest of the brick churches in Cagayan Valley? That’s a question that I can’t answer at this time.
Walking around the church, I was quite excited to still see the perimeter as well as a small grotto of the once attached cemetery. It was common during the time of this church that the graveyard was just at the side and usually have cross bones motifs and decor, and in some cases, like that of Boljoon in Cebu, a skeleton holding a cane and a lamp guards the entrance. As for the one in Ilagan, a house now stands on the former cemetery with its remaining perimeter fence standing but slowly crumbling in disrepair.
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