Rough Groove

Laoag Cathedral

The Cathedral of St. William the Hermit in Laoag City, Ilocos Norte with its unproportionally gigantic belfry, is the province’s famous landmark located at the banks of a river. Unlike the other churches in Ilocos, it’s the only one whose simplicity of a facade is almost lost with the overcrowding of columns, filling up vacant space in the lower and middle tier but suprisingly, the pediment is almost bare. Its a confusion, like a series of candles placed on a candelabra.
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Within Paoay

I was not able to go to the sand dunes of Suba but within the old town of Paoay, are some exciting finds. As what I usually do after I shoot photos of the churches is to check out the cemetery. Yeah, the cemetery.

On the way, I passed by this old Spanish era bridge just beside an equally old ancestral hosue. It is made of bricks but simpler than the one in Sta. Maria. Good thing that this was preserved and seems to be in good condition.

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Paoay Church

The San Agustin Church in Paoay, Ilocos Norte is like an apparition out of nowhere! Part of the UNESCO enscribed World Heritage Site - Baroque Churches of the Philippines, 1993 (like Santa Maria in Ilocos Sur) it is architecturally distinct with its unique blend of Oriental (think of those Asian temples) and European styles to come up with a uniquely Filipino interpretation of baroque. Built in 1710, again by the Augustinians, its a wonderful structure that awes and inspires.

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Sta. Maria Church, 3 - Cemetery chapel ruins

A flight of stairs down the church, at the right side (facing the facade) leads one to the old cemetery ruins. Left, the stone stairs leading up the church. Right, the cracked brick walls that might have been caused by an earthquake or onslaught of time.

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Sta. Maria Church, 2 - interior

The interior of the church in Sta. Maria is more or less intact. There, the beautiful altars (2 at the sides and one at the center called the retablo mayor) are still original while the wooden pulpit at the lateral part of the nave (extreme left at the photo above) is solid and can still hold the weight of a man.

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