03 November 2013
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| Paoay Church taken during Spanish - American War Photo Source: http://freepages.military.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~smokymtnman/spanish/saw4.jpg |
Aside from Vigan, the Paoay church, also known as San Agustin church, is another site that I cannot afford to miss whenever I travel to the Ilocos provinces.
According to UNESCO, this church is the most massive church of all churches in the Philippines with 24 massive buttresses measuring nearly 3-meters thick built around the church 2 meters thick walls as protection.
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Facade and Bell Tower of Paoay Church
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The materials used to build the walls and buttresses are made of coral stones cut into square blocks, bricks and adobe stones and then glued together using sugar cane and egg white.
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| Massive Church Facade |
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| 24 S-shape Massive Buttresses nearly 3 meters thick |
According to Wikipedia, the church facade also exudes Javanese architecture reminiscent of Borobudur of Java.
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| Javanese Architecture |
Building of the present church started in 1694, according to historians. This church has been hit by 2 giant earthquakes in the last 300 years but due to its quake resistive structure, it remained intact to date.
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| Third layer of the church facade bearing the old seal of Spain |
Furthermore, UNESCO said that this church is the best example of a Baroque church in the Philippines. This church is another UNESCO World Heritage site in the Ilocos provinces.
Watch Baroque Churches of the Philippines, according to UNESCO.
Just like the developments in the City of Vigan, there are many developments at the UNESCO World Heritage site of Paoay.
Facing the facade of the church at the right side of the Plaza, there is a new building, which was currently being constructed by the time of visit, that will house the tourism office of Paoay, Ilocos Norte.
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| Future Tourism Office at Paoay, Ilocos Norte |
The left side of the church has been developed and turned into a beautiful garden called "Jardin de San Agustin".
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| Jardin de San Agustin |
The parish residence is a new building constructed at least 20 meters away from the church to provide a buffer zone as required by UNESCO.
Inside the church, the altar was improved with the statue of San Agustin at the main altar and the altar table now dressed in gold-color with intricate designs.
More and more visitors are coming to Paoay to see the church and other tourist spots at the area.
To get a view of the church facade at night, I stayed late at the plaza and waited for the lamp posts and wall lamps to light up and even at night, the grandeur of the church can't be denied.
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| Paoay Church at night |
Truly, Paoay Pumaypayapay (Kumakaway)!
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