Rough Groove

Cagayan Valley Churches, 3

Our Lady of Atocha Church

A very impressive church just at the roadside in Alicia. Everytime I pass this highway, I can’t help but marvel at its beauty. That’s why I really planned to stop here and check it out. The church is impressive however, the interior has already been remodeled and the bell tower, new.

St. Rose of Lima Church

Another impressive church whose form calls to mind the one in Dupax del Sur. Very simple and really different from the usual brick church form like that of Alicia, Tumauini and Cauayan.

I was just able to pass by this cathedral along the highway just outside the main center of Ilagan. I’m quite impressed with the design and the rosettes that decorate the facade. A massive church, this was recently built.

Cagayan Valley Churches, 2

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.

Cagayan Valley Churches, 1

Continued from my Nueva Vizcaya - Isabela trip…

Cagayan Valley has its own share of old Spanish era churches that were built by the Dominicans. What is noticeable, though, of these churches are that these are made of bricks usually baked near these sacred structures. I have visited around nine of these churches (except for one, which is newly built) starting with that of Bayombong followed by Dupax del Sur in Nueva Vizcaya. Alicia, Gamu, Echague, Tumauini, Ilagan and Cauayan City, all in Isabela. My reaction has been of amazement, awe, bewilderment, enthusiasm disappointment as I’ve comeface to face with these structures and the various condition and improvements that has been inflicted.

St. Dominic Cathedral

It was early morning, with a slight drizzle, that I arrived in Bayombong and when I entered the town, I was impressed with this cathedral, the first in Nueva Vizcaya, thinking that this is still the original only to find out that its not. The whole church was replaced and only the facade, razed twice, and the belfry destroyed by an earthquake in the 90’s, was rebuilt in the original design but its ancient charm is lost forever. However, very few remnants of the walls can still be found at its side.

San Vicente Ferrer Church

I’ve heard much and read much about this quaint old church in Dupax del Sur that I’ve really planned to visit this. Alighting from the tricycle I hired in Bambang, I was just struck with the simplicity of its facade. The front o the church has been painted over but the belfry, was such an imposing sight of bricks, towering at its side. Impressive! It was closed when I arrived but I knocked on the convent where I met a boy who’s a sacristan. He let me in and guided me around the church.

This church, built in the late 18th century and is one of 26 declared National Cultural Treasures (excluding the 4 recognized UNESCO World Heritage Sites) by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA). It is known for its baptistry and two columns finely carved stucco.

A visit to the southern churches in Cebu

CarcarEarly morning yesterday, Sunday and I was on my way to the church of Carcar in the south of Cebu to take photos there. Well, I’ve been to this church many times and have other photos from those trips but usually, the time I was there was already late mornings and the light is not just that good with the sky being cloudy. This time, I was fortunate. Since the hot season is already here, I was rewarded with a somewhat cloudless sky. With the early morning sun in tandem with my circular polarizer, the colors just pop! What blue skies I got and details were crisp.

I’ve always admired this church. An imposing sight as this sits on top of a hill overlooking the heritage town of Carcar and the coastline. Other than the religious significance of the structure, it also served as a watchpoint for the townspeople who were preparing against the Muslim marauders from the south who plied the coastlines of the country centuries ago to raid hapless communities for the slave trade.

I did not bring my heavy tripod with me to take shots of the interior that’s why I have another excuse to visit this church next time.

San Fernando

From Carcar, I proceeded to San Fernando. I’ve been passing by this church many times no but really haven’t got down and taken photos. This time, I really made it a point to drop by here. Its another impressive structure but unlike that of Carcar, this is just level with the road. Its walls and facade are made of coral stones turning dull with time. Haven’t really gone inside since there was still mass being said and the church was full.

Naga

Just like San Fernando, it was the first time for me to visit this church despite it being just at the roadside. Of all the churches in Cebu, I was quite impressed with the details of its facade. Here, angels in various poses abound, flowers, vines and stars are populating the spaces. My ultra wide angle lens 10-22mm really was very useful here as the distance between the church and its fence was just too close.

I’ll be blogging more about the details of these churches some other time.

Two exciting book finds on Philippine colonial churches and art

Two exciting finds, one in Powerbooks Greenbelt and the other at the Ayala Museum. A must read for enthusiasts of colonial church architecture and history that is both awe inspiring and makes one proud but at the same time alarm to the various state of neglect of these structures.

Fortress of Empire - Rene Javellana
The country’s colonial fortress structures are documented in this beautiful book. Ancient ones still standing, preserved, or in different state of decay and ruin and those that were supposed to be standing but lost forever due to natural and manmade calamities. Its a rich resource for understanding the somewhat violent past, the Moro raids for slaves, how the communities under the Spanish colonial government defended themselves that most often, is led by a lone Spaniard in the person of the parish priest and in the process, came up with noble structures that stand proud like those in the various forts (Santiago in Intramuros and San Pedro in Cebu), the different watchtowers, though some are crumbling that stretch from the coastlines of Ilocos, the Visayas (to cite, the ingenious alarm system developed by Fr. Bermejo of Boljoon that snakes down the southern coastline of the province).

Simbahan: Church Art in Colonial Philippines 1565 - 1898 - Regalado Trota Jose
The structure, the priests’ vestments, altar pieces, convents and history richly detailed in this fine and affordable book. Though the photos are in black and white compared to the colored ones above, its very informative. It makes me want to document more the existing churches before they are lost forever due to natural or man-made calamities.