When I heard the word Vigan what came out on my mind first are old buildings and heritage. Visiting the City of Vigan is part of our destination during the Travel in the Norte, City of Vigan in the capital province of Ilocos Sur, the city is located on the western coast of the large island of Luzon, facing the South China Sea. Visiting Vigan is dream come true; I’m longing this place for many years wondering when the right time to visit this beautiful heritage of the Philippines is. After longing for too long finally, I step the Ciudad Fernandina de Vigan.
Aside from the Calisa that tourists love to ride this as transportation to explore the City of Vigan, Vigan Cathedral is one of the tourist attractions also of Vigan City also known as St. Paul Metropolitan Cathedral and also the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Nueva Segovia. This Vigan cathedral was constructed 4 times and the first construction was built in 1574 commissioned by Spaniard Juan de Salcedo, according to rumors the young Spanish captain personally picked the location where the church was to be built. The second construction is in 1641 but collapsed in an Earthquake, the third was gutted by fire in 1739, the construction of the fourth began in 1790 and was finished in 1800. The original design of the church is as intact until today.
I observed the uniqueness of those two churches that we were visited in Ilocos, the Paoay Church of Laoag and the Vigan Cathedral Church is that the church bells are separated from the main church. The builders wanted to secure the church from the bell towers, which are normally the first to collapse during massive earthquakes. Even then, Filipinos learned to deal with such calamities and find a way to overcome them.
The interior of the cathedral was modified into modern but 80% of the church structures were remain. When I took photos inside the cathedral I saw workers fixing some interior of the church to look great and preserved.
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