Friday, June 5, 2009

One church at a time...

A few weeks ago, I’ve talked about the UNESCO Heritage Sites in the Philippines. This week, I’ve revisited one of them, the San Agustin Church, the oldest Baroque church in the country built in 1570 and located inside the walled city of Intramuros in Manila.

The church is the first earthquake proof structure made of stone and has survived seven major earthquakes that shook the country.

My initial intention was actually to show the site to my hubby. Being a European, he has a strong inclination towards anything historical in nature. I, on the other hand prefers just admiring the beauty of a certain place. It was just recently that I began to dig deeper into the evolution of things. My hubby asked me already several times if I didn’t study history in school. I told him I did, of course. Well, what can I do? During those days I prefer music and physical education classes! Ooppss… I hope my previous history instructors don’t read this. I will be such a disappointment to them.

After having sumptuous paella lunch at the nearby Ilustrado, we then headed to the Church. I was all perky and active when we started exploring the church. The architecture is simply amazing, beyond words. Having visited several baroque and renaissance churches in Europe, I am proud to say that we have here one of the best.




Beside the church, a monastery was converted to a repository for religious artifacts and art treasures. You can literally spend the day there going through each and every relic. I knew that I’ve been here when I was a student. I just didn’t pay close attention to the details as I’ve already confessed earlier that my passion lies somewhere else.


Anyway, I was glad that I did this tour again when I am more mature and more culturally receptive. The afternoon spent there was well worth it and besides, I need to burn the carbo from that paella lunch.

-r-

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