One of the unique things about the Philippines is it's churches and the fact that it has so many of them. The Philippines has one of the largest Christian populations in the world. About 93% of the country's population are Christians, with a whopping 80% being Roman Catholics.
The photo above is of one of Manila's most famous churches, Quiapo Church (aka, the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene). This church is located in the Quiapo district of Manila, right next to a sprawling, outdoor street market where you can find all kinds of counterfeit products. Originally built in the late 1560's, the church burned down twice (in 1639 and 1928) and was destroyed by an earthquake in 1863. During my first visit to the Philippines years ago, I attended part of a Sunday mass at Quiapo Church which was quite a unique experience. The church was packed with around 1000 people, most of whom were standing packed together like sardines. This was in mid-summer with typical scorching humidity so it was not a pleasant experience. After exiting in the middle of the service (people walk in and out at will), I'd had more of a sauna than a religious experience and was glad to move on to a more relaxed atmosphere at the ever-crowded counterfeit shopping street.
By the way, if you're unfamiliar with Filipino history, you might be asking "Why does a nation in Southeast Asia" have so many churches?" Well, the answer is colonialism. Way back in 1521, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan (while
employed by Spain)
discovered what we now know as the Philippines. Spain quickly decided it should take these islands, mostly for the lucrative trade they provided and for the convenient base for trade with Japan and China. And of course, the Spanish felt compelled to force the heathen natives to become Christians.
San Agustin Church is another of Manila's most noted churches. Located in the historic walled city of Intramuros, in addition to services, the church is a tourist attraction and popular wedding location (although the weddings aren't very private due to all the tourists).
San Agustin also has a very interesting history, originally made primarily of bamboo and completed in 1571, it lasted only 3 years, burning in a fire in 1574. It's second iteration was destroyed less than a year later by invading Chinese pirate Lin Feng 林凤 (aka Limahong) who apparently wanted to make Manila his personal colony rather than a Spanish one.
After another fire in 1583, the Spanish finally decided that stone might be a better choice than wood and completed a new church in 1607. This proved to be a good decision since the church managed to survive a powerful earthquake in 1863. San Agustin has also survived several other earthquakes as well as being the site of the Spanish surrender to the United States after the Spanish-American War in 1898 and the site of a Japanese concentration camp in WWII. Somewhat miraculously, the church was one of few buildings in Manila that wasn't destroyed during the American bombardment of Manila in 1945 to root out the Japanese. Today, tourists (including yours truly) can enter, peruse and take photos of the elaborate design of the churches' interior while also viewing a wedding taking place.
The Manila Cathedral is another large Roman Catholic church in the Intramuros area. The original cathedral's location was chosen by Spanish Conquistador Miguel López de Legazpi and dates back to 1571, but the church has been destroyed by earthquakes and the Battle of Manila. The current version was built in 1958 and restored as recently as 2012.
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| Approaching Manila Cathedral from horse carriage |
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| The interior is decorated with elaborate Biblical imagery |
For a little religious as well as architectural contrast, we also visited a Chinese temple in Manila's Chinatown area, known as Binondo. My friend and I took a horse carriage ride around Binondo which ended at this very ornate Daoist temple.
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| Daoist books and pamphlets available at the temple |
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| The temple ceiling with its dragon-inspired design |
Although not in Manila, I have to include one more church in this blog entry. The church below is located on a small island in Bohol (I don't recall the island's name). We took a boat trip from the popular Alona Beach to this nearby island inhabited by about 300 people. This church, although much smaller and simpler than those in Manila, was by far the nicest building on this island which I guess shows the importance of churches in the Philippines.
If you'd like to see the rest of my photo collection of Manila churches, feel free to look at this Shutterfly photo album.
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