Spanish-era Churches

[ryanr]

nah i wont delete that. Just dont talk about being drunk (sorry i started it) here. Move to the free text if we continue this discussion.

Ok, back to churches. What is the biggest church in the country? Is it Manila Cathedral?

[weirdo]

lol. i wish i could drink some today. finals week is done. i deserve to have some! hehe. dun worry greyx and francis, catholic priests drink wine (and sometimes they let everyone have a taste) during masses. lol. ok to hardcore catholics there, fine it's blood.

ok. disregard the crap above. come and see beautiful pics of the sinulog festival in cebu, one of the most colourful in the country. it's in honour of the santo nino, the patron of the last church i posted. have fun cos i really did. must check this out!

taken by one of my favourite photographers.
faces of sinulog
more sinulog

[renell]

goddamn, that format is nuts. but ill comply to it even though it's tight

[Francis20]

it's too tight a rule. i won't post

[renell]

hey weirdo let me take care of these churches

Lubao Church, Pampanga
Sta. Ana Church, Pampanga
Manila Catherdral
San Agustin Church
San Sebastian Church

i got a series of nightshots for the last 3, and detailed exterior pics of the first two

[weirdo]

good. ok i will.

bad news for me: something called puresight blocks the asian and philippine foums. i o not have access to this one. sa.

[renell]

ok, i will start working on information about these churches this weekend. expect them all next week. if not, just pound me with update posts...

[bagel]

Marikina City, Metro Manila, Philippines

We see pictures of old Spanish churches in the Philippines, but we also have a tradition of modern churches. Found in the campus of Ateneo de Manila University is the Church of the Gesu, completed in July 2002.

When Ateneo transferred to Loyola Heights in 1949, Fr. William Masterson envisioned the construction of a gymnasium and a church on campus. However, only the Blue Eagle Gymnasium was built.

Designed by Jose Pedro Recio and Carmelo Casas, the edifice’s triangular structure symbolizes the Holy Trinity.

The site area of 10,200 square meters houses the church and has a seating capacity of 1000 persons.

[bagel]

Anyone have pics of the protestant Church of the Risen King (I believe designed by Nakpil) and the UP Church of the Holy Sacrifice (designed by leandro Locsin)? Those are the best examples of contemporary churches in the Philippines.

[ryanr]

That triangular church is awesome...Its in Ateneo?

[SunKing]

Padre Diego Cera Ave., Las Piñas, 1740

What makes this church special is that it houses one of the Philippines' most priceless artifacts, the Bamboo Organ.

The Las Piñas Bamboo Organ is one of the Philippines' national treasures. It's home is the Parish Church of St Joseph located in Las Piñas City. The organ, the church and the surrounding buildings have been restored to their 19th century state by Architect Francisco "Bobby" Mañosa and associate Ludwig Alvarez, making a trip to the site a popular excursion for Filipinos and foreign visitors alike.

The builder of both the church and its organ was Fr. Diego Cera de la Virgen del Carmen, a monk of Augustinian order of the Recollects. A native of Spain, he served as parish priest in Las Piñas through many endeavors. Historians portray him as a gifted man-natural scientist, chemist, architect, community leader, organist and organ builder.

Having previously built organs in Manila area with some organ stops made of bamboo he chose bamboo for most of this organ, and only the trumpet stops are made of metal. The choice of bamboo was probably both practical and aesthetic- bamboo was abundant and used for hundreds of items, both a practical and an artistic nature.

Fr. Cera began work on the organ in 1816, while the church was still under construction, and the organ was completed in 1824. During Fr. Cera's lifetime, disasters such as earthquakes and typhoons damaged both church and organ and Fr. Cera himself was the organ's first "restorer." Down through the years, natural disasters continued to take their toll; the organ was unplayable for years. Somewhat unexpectedly reassembled early in the 20th century, partial restoration took place from time to time up through World War II.

In recent years, several concerted attempts were made to save the instrument. In 1972, a contract for total restoration was awarded to Johannes Klais Orgelbau KG in Bonn, Germany, and it was shipped there in 1973. While the restoration of the organ was taking place in Germany, a massive project was completed at the church. With the help of the community of Las Piñas and many others in the Manila area, the church grounds were restored to its original state.

The restored organ returned home in March 1975, to a joyous welcome by the people of the Philippines. The joint restoration of church and the organ was a triumph of local and international cooperation. Since them the scene of many concerts and festivals, the Bamboo Organ is described by many international organ masters as one of the finest old organs in the world. Its construction of bamboo is noted as being one of the major factors that gives it a truly unique and lively sound.

At present, the Las Piñas Bamboo Organ is being maintained by Diego Cera Organbuilders, Inc.





Pictures 1-3 courtesy of the Las Piñas Bamboo Organ website, 4th image from Getty Images.

[renell]

hmm.. it's a surprise i lived in the south part of MM and i still haven't visited the bamboo organ.

the church looks nice, i don't know a lot of spanish-times churches in South MM.

[renell]

so this is the fourth church in our thread

Plaza del Carmen, Quiapo, Manila
Philippines

from http://www.ca-catholics.net/churches...a-s-sebastian/
The Basilica of San Sebastian is one of the 4 minor basilicas in the Archdiocese of Manila. It is said to be the only church in Asia built of steel. The architect decided to use steel to build the present structure because the church had been completely destroyed by an earthquake twice.

The basilica contains the National Shrine of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Every year the feast of Our Lady is celebrated twice a year. The biggest feast is celebrated on January 31 with a traditional novena ending with a procession all along the parish streets. Her feast on July 16 is also celebrated with a novena but with a shorter religious procession.

San Sebastian was raised to a minor basilica in 1890. The basilica was consecrated in 1891

pics from the same site



now for my pics

[renell]

more pics of San Sebastian Church


if i'm not mistaken my uncle told me to take this shot on a roof of a toyota revo, which was not ours

[SunKing]

Originally Posted by renell

the church looks nice, i don't know a lot of spanish-times churches in South MM.

The only Spanish-era churches I know of are Saint Andrew's Church in Parañaque, and St. Joseph's Church. Saint James the Greater Parish Church (1990) on Cuenca in Ayala Alabang and Saint Jerome (1982) beside Alabang Town Center are great Spanish-style churches, though.

San Sebastian is quite a sight!

[renell]

that church beside ATC isn't from the spanish times is it? or is it an attempt to look like one?

[SunKing]

Originally Posted by renell

that church beside ATC isn't from the spanish times is it? or is it an attempt to look like one?

Nope, it was built, I think, in 1982. It's quite small actually.

[bagel]

But Saint James... It's a church befitting the people of Ayala Alabang. It's like wow.

[SunKing]

Originally Posted by boybaha

But Saint James... It's a church befitting the people of Ayala Alabang. It's like wow.

Hey, it's even air-conditioned now, after a lot of substantinal donations. The launching of the air-conditioned church was quite grand, there were cocktails and a concert by chamber artist.

[renell]

Don Bosco in Makati (near Makati Cinema Square) is also air-conditioned, though there were so much people when i went you couldn't feel the cool-ness..