Here is another addition to my UNESCO postcard collection, a Mia-gao Church postcard. The Miag-ao Church is a part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Baroque Churches of the Philippines." The Miagao Church is a typical single-nave Spanish colonial mission church, but it has a unique facade where you can see the blending of Spanish and native influences. The facade features a relief sculpture of St. Christopher carrying the Christ Child amidst coconut, papaya, and guava trees. A large stone image of St. Thomas de Villanova, the town's patron saint, dominates the center. Life-sized statues of the Pope and St. Henry, with their coats-of-arms above them, flank the main entrance.
Miag-ao Church Postcard
Flanking the church facade are two squat bell towers of uneven configurations. They served as observation posts during Muslim raids. (The church was built on the highest elevation of the town.) The left tower has four tiers plus a low-pitched dome, while the right tower has only three tiers. However, it compensated for the 23.6 meters height of the left tower with its steeply conical roof.
RELATED ENTRY:
Miag-ao Church, Iloilo Postcards
SOURCE:
The Miagao Church: Historical Landmark
by National Historical Institute
pp. 17, 24
Here is another Banaue Rice Terraces postcard. For those who are not aware the back of the 1,000 piso (Philippine peso) banknote features the famous Banaue Rice Terraces.
Unfortunately, the Banaue Rice Terraces have also been in-scripted to the List of World Heritage in Danger on 2001 as the dangers of deforestation and climate change threatens to destroy the terraces.
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Banaue Rice Terraces Postcards
Another Banaue Rice Terraces postcard in my collection.
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE:
The rice terraces is of world significance archeologically, ecologically, engineering and architecturally, and socially. It is the only Philippine monument constructed without foreign intervention. In terms of engineering, it is an ingenious system of hydraulics designed to provide and distribute water equitably from upper to lower terraces. Architecturally, the houses of the Ifugao terraces reflect the shape, condition and materials of the mountain. Socially, terraces as cultural landscape, distinctly exhibits the intricate relation of man to his environment in terms of myths, rituals, traditions and life ways.
Banaue Rice Terraces Postcard
In Asia, the Philippine terraces is distinctive because they are situated with sloped of up to 70 percent. Archeologically, the rice terraces are dated at 1000 B.C., establishing an early complex farming and irrigation system in the mountains. Ecologically, it is environment-friendly, manifested in the use of upland rice varieties, the contouring of mountainsides, waterways and protected forests.
RELATED ENTRY:
Banaue Rice Terraces Postcards
SOURCE:
Pamanaraan: Writings on Philippine Heritage Management
By Eric Babar Zerrudo
Chapter 7: Ifugao Rice Terraces, pp. 159-160
Here is another Banaue Rice Terraces postcard. The terraces is spread over most of the 20,000 square kilometer land area. The terraces is also an ingenious system of hydraulics and local engineering. Water irrigation and system has been designed to provide adjacent terraces with enough water from the upper to the lower terraces. This was done through a series ad creative use of dams, canals, pipes and stones.
Banaue Rice Terraces Postcard
RELATED ENTRY:
Banaue Rice Terraces Postcards
SOURCE:
Pamanaraan: Writings on Philippine Heritage Management
By Eric Babar Zerrudo
Chapter 7: Ifugao Rice Terraces, p 158
This is another Banaue Rice Terraces postcard. The Rice Terraces are commonly referred to by Filipinos as the "Eighth Wonder of the World," and is the only monument in the country that was constructed without any influence of foreign intervention. All tilling and maintenance of the terraces must be done manually.
Banaue Rice Terraces Postcard
There are also other similar rice terraces in Asia, like those in Vietnam and China, but the Philippine terraces are situated at much higher altitudes. The slopes terraces in the Cordillera are at approximately 70 degrees maximum of Bali. The terraces are situated at altitudes varying from 700 to 1500 meters above sea level. Also the entire extent of the Philippine terraces is still in active agricultural use today, unlike those in other countries that have been abandoned.
RELATED ENTRY:
Banaue Rice Terraces Postcards
SOURCES:
Banaue Rice Terraces Wikipedia Entry
Pamanaraan: Writings on Philippine Heritage Management
By Eric Babar Zerrudo
Chapter 7: Ifugao Rice Terraces, p. 155
Miag-ao Church Postcard
