St. Augustine Church (most popularly known as "Paoay Church") was built in 1694 commissioned by the Augustinian friars led by Fr. Antonio Estavillo. The Church was completed in 1710 and rededicated in 1896. The Paoay Church was declared a national treasure by then President Ferdinand Marcos and is included in the UNESCO's World Heritage List.
Paoay Church Postcard 1
Paoay Church is probably the best-known “earthquake Baroque” church in the Philippines. Construction of the church started in 1704 and was completed in 1894 by the Augustinian friars led by Fr. Antonio Estavillo. Paoay Church was built of baked bricks, coral rocks, salbot (tree sap) and lumber. Large coral stones were used for the lower level while bricks were used for the upper levels of the church. The walls are 1.67 meters thick and are supported by 24 carved and massive buttresses.
Paoay Church Postcard 2
The Church is a unique combination of Gothic, Baroque and Oriental designs. The lower part of the facade was made of stuccoed brick while the upper facaed is made of coral blocks. Local materials were said to be made of mixing sand, lime, sugarcane juice and then boiling the mixture with mangeao (salbot) leaves, leather and rice straw for two nights.
Paoay Church Postcard 3
Huge buttresses (earthquake Baroque), perhaps unmatched throughout the archipelago, give ballast to the massive walls of the church. All in all, they number 24 - eleven on each side, and two at the rear - each projecting five and half paces from the wall and with a two-pace thickness. Stairways of varying slopes are attached to both side walls. At the rear wall is the gable that stands in memory of one time stylized Chinese clouds.
Paoay Church Postcard 4
Its belltower, which is detached from its main building, is made of coral stone and was used by the Katipuneros as an observation post in 1896 and again by Filipino soldiers during World War II. Earthquakes damaged portions of the church in 1865 and 1885.
Paoay Church Postcard 5
The Church takes pride in possessing a marble main altar and four side altars of classical Baroque influence. An improvised sacristy is at the side of the main altar for the old sacristy, which is at the rear of the altar, has been badly dilapidated by the forces of nature. Windows, currently of modern influence, enshrine stained glass.
Paoay Church Postcard 6
Construction of the present Miagao Church (Sto. Tomas de Villanueva Church) was started on a Saturday, the town's market day, in December 1786, half a century after the founding of the Miagao parish. It was declared as part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Baroque Churches of the Philippines" in 1993.
Miag-ao Church Postcard 1
The town's first church building was constructed in Ubos by Nicolas Pangkug, first capitan of the town. The church was completed three years before the first Spanish priest came in 1734, but this was burned by the Muslim pirates in 1741. The second church was constructed under the leadership of Parish Priest Fray Fernando Camporedondo (1746-1747). This church was also burned and looted by the pirates. They decided to build a third church in Tacas where the townsfolk have a commanding view of the mouth of the Miagao river, the usual route followed by the pirates in entering the town. This church still stands after defying elements and catastrophies for two centuries.
Miag-ao Church Postcard 2
The blocks of stones used in the construction of the church were quarried at Sitio Tubog in nearby San Joaquin town and in the mountains of the town of Igbaras. In baroque-romanesque style, the church sinks six (6) meters deep into the ground with walls one-and-a-half (1 1/2) meters thick and buttresses thrice thicker in size.
Miag-ao Church Postcard 3
Its artistic facade is decorated witha relief sculpture of St. Christopher carrying the Christ child amidst coconut, papaya and guava shrubs. A large stone image of St. Thomas of Villanova, parish patron saint, dominates the center. Carved life-size statues of the Pope and St. Henry with their coat-of-arms above them flank the main entrance. Supporting the facade are the twin belfries, one towering two-storeys and the other three-storeys high.
Miag-ao Church Postcard 4
According to an old Philippine legend, the coconut tree was the only bequest from a loving mother to her two children, a tree which sustained them for life. On the church's facade the coconut tree appears as the "tree of life" to which St. Christopher carrying the Child Jesus on his shoulder is clinging to. The lesser facades feature the daily life of Miagaowanons during the time. Also depicted are other native flora and fauna, as well as native dress.
Miag-ao Church during a Fiesta Postcard 5
Like any other foreign influences, the architecture of many colonial churches has undergone the process of indigenization. This process is carried out by incorporating the prevailing Hispano-American and Medieval Sapnish architecture with local as well as Muslim and Chinese touches.
SOURCE:
History of the Miagao Catholic Church
After the international UNESCO site postcards, I will be showing my collection of the Philippine UNESCO sites. First would be the Baroque Churches of the Philippines which is the official designation to a collection of four Spanish-era churches in the Philippines, upon its inscription to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1993. The collection is composed of the following:
* Sto. Tomas de Villanueva Church in Miag-ao, Iloilo
* St. Agustine Church in Paoay, Ilocos Norte
* San Agustin Church in Manila
* Nuestra Señora de la Asuncion in Santa Maria, Ilocos Sur
These churches have been at the forefront of Philippine history, not just in furthering Christianity in the archipelago, but in serving as the political backbone of Spanish colonial rule, when Church and State was regarded as one. The unique architecture of the churches didn't just reflect the adaptation of Spanish/Latin American architecture to the local environment (including the fusion with Chinese motifs), but also of the Church's political influence.
Sta. Maria Church Buttresses
These churches had been subject to attacks by local revolts and rebellions, hence, most had the appearance of a fortress, rather than just serving as mere religious structures. This is especially noteworthy in the case of Santa Maria Church, located on top of a hill, serving as a citadel during times of crisis. Miag-ao Church also withstood the occasional attacks of Muslims from the south.
Paoay Church Butresses
Further, the location of the Philippines along the Pacific Ring of Fire called for the emphasis on the buttresses and foundations of these churches, with some being seriously damaged, but eventually rebuilt after an earthquake. The most imposing of these buttresses could be found in Paoay Church, while the true testament of this architecture could be seen in San Agustin Church, Manila, the only structure in Intramuros to survive World War II. Hence, the unique architectural style became known as Earthquake Baroque.
SOURCE:Baroque Churches of the Philippines Wikipedia Entry
Cahokia is the site of an ancient Native American city near Collinsville, Illinois, across the Mississippi River from St. Louis, Missouri in the American Bottom floodplain. The site is composed of a series of man-made earthen mounds. Cahokia is the largest archaeological site related to the Mississippian culture, and the term "Cahokian" is sometimes used to describe that culture. Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site was designated a World Heritage Site in 1982.
Cahokia Mounds Postcard
Cahokia was first settled around 650 during the Late Woodland period, but mound building did not begin there until about 1050 at the beginning of the Mississippian cultural period. The site was abandoned before 1400. The inhabitants left no written records, and the city's original name is unknown. The name "Cahokia" refers to an unrelated clan of Illiniwek people living in the area when the first French explorers arrived in the 1600s, long after Cahokia was abandoned.
SOURCE:Cahokia Wikipedia Entry
Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London (and historically as The Tower), is a historic monument in central London on the north bank of the River Thames.
Tower of London Postcard
The tower's primary function was a fortress, a royal palace, and a prison (particularly for high status and royal prisoners, such as the Princes in the Tower and the future Queen Elizabeth I). This last use has led to the phrase "sent to the Tower" (meaning "imprisoned"). It has also served as a place of execution and torture, an armoury, a treasury, a zoo, the Royal Mint, a public records office, an observatory, and since 1303, the home of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom.
Me and a Sentry, Tower of London
Paoay Church Postcard 1
Paoay Church Postcard 2
Paoay Church Postcard 3
Paoay Church Postcard 4
Paoay Church Postcard 5
