…continued from La Union, 3 - Bangar
Another short tricycle ride from the highway from Balaoan, or a much longer one from Bangar, is another imposing and beautiful church of Luna. Its blue and white paint a welcome respite from the usual pink/white/beige look on the other churches that I’ve passed in La Union.
…continued from La Union, 2 - Bacnotan
Not to be missed while one is driving along the highway is the church of Bangar. At first glance the structure and form of the facade reminds me of Bicol churches like the one in Tiwi, Albay and Lagonoy, Camarines Sur. What differs this from the two, however, is that instead of two finials, a decorative element, jutting out from the flanks of the pediment, the upper part of the facade, in the two Bicol churches, the one in Bangar are two smaller bellfries that goes no higher than the top and center belfry.
The church is reached after a short brief orange tricycle ride from the highway into a wide open space that is the church compound where at the center, the imposing church of San Miguel Archangel is built and bounded by centuries old fence. When I was there last week, workers were busy doing landscape work at the front of the church.
A Chavit calendar that was given when I bought a ticket for La Union at the Partas bus station in Aurora Blvd., Cubao
Last Monday night, I planned to travel to Naga City to do a reshoot of the cathedral there and the ermita of Penafrancia. Unfortunately, at around 2200H, there were already no aircon buses in Pasay that I opted to go to Cubao for a 0300H trip. Again, despite being that early, there was still no aircon bus and the regular bus trips will start only at 0400H.
One of the beautiful churches in the province of Bulacan is found in the former capital with the same name: Bulacan that is located by the banks of the Bulacan River (yeah, it can get consfusing at first). An imposing site it is, the architecture is said to be a mixture of Baroque and Muslim. The construction of the church and convent started about 1578 and finished before 1762. It was occuppied and later burned by the British during their brief stay (when they also desecrated and looted San Agustin in Intramuros) which was then rebuilt.
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