As the Spanish colonization starts with the mass indoctrination and conversion of the natives to Catholicism, monks and friars also expand their missionary work to the country, especially in Cebu and in the nearby islands of Negros, Panay, Bohol, Leyte and Samar. As a result, the need and concept for a place of worship and devotion appeared. Thus, magnificent and European-influenced churches, designed by Spanish architects and engineers, are constructed by forced manual labor and through the donations and government taxes, in which the influence was brought via the West Indies through the Manila Galleon.
The colonial churches in the country is considered as the most lasting legacy of Spain and three (3) of these churches are listed as World Heritage Sites of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
In connection with the construction of churches and shrines, most Filipino settlements instill Spanish Colonial Architecture in city and municipal planning outlook during the colonial era. The 16th century Leyes de Indias (Laws of the Indies), a series of guidelines, provide plans for the new colonial settlements and intended to impose rational order and European administrative control on the new settlements in the Americas and the Philippines. The planning states the exact location of the church, the orientation of roads that run into the plaza mayor (main plaza), docks and warehouses as well as the width of the street with respect to climatic conditions. The planning also specified the location which the city or municipality must be built.
Today, the Leyes de Indias plan is very visible in modern Philippine cities and municipalities in which the plaza is surrounded by government buildings, schools, churches and other trading establishments, separated by streets and sidewalks.
The Santo Tomas de Villanueva Church of Barangay Pardo, Cebu City and the Archdiocesan Shrine of San Francisco de Asis Church of Naga City have been selected to represent the Spanish colonial architecture respectively.
A wedding scene in the barangay parish of Pardo. |
CHURCH OF SANTO TOMAS DE VILLANUEVA - POBLACION PARDO, CEBU CITY
Monitoring five (5) kilometers southwards bounding for Talisay City, lies the barangay of Poblacion Pardo. It was formerly a pueblo (town) formed through the amalgamation of barrios (villages) Bulacao, Inayawan, and Basak [present-day Barangay Basak-Pardo] on March 10, 1863 by decree of Governor-General Rafael de Echague y Bermingham, but this status was short-lived after the erection of the municipality of Cebu in 1901 and became part of its jurisdiction.
The Grotto of the Our Lady of Lourdes alongside with the church. |
The image of Santo Tomas de Villanueva, giving alms to the poor. He was a known ascetic, preacher and a writer of the Augustinian friars. |
The Loon Church is designed by the Spanish Architect Domingo de Escondrillas. It is considered as the largest Spanish-designed churches in Bohol. |
Details of the upper facade. |
The Eye of Providence, a plain symbol of the Christian Holy Trinity. |
The church is currently undergoing renovation and modernization of the church’s interior and roof. The interior forms an inside look of a dome with the dove symbol at the center, depicting the Holy Spirit (third person of the Holy Trinity), and on the corners are the pictures of four (4) evangelists, San Lucas, San Mateo, San Juan and San Marcos. But the solid walls, reredos (altar artistic background) and several elements exists are authentic and genuine. The altar has five reredos containing an image of a particular devotion. The main altar reredo, with an altar canopy, contains an icon of Santo Tomás de Villanueva as amidst four panels painted with religious images of San Roque, San Miguel el Arcángel, San Vicente Ferrer, and the Blessed Virgin Mary, carrying the child Jesus .
The main altar retablo of the church. |
The parish is celebrating its annual fiesta, commencing on the 1st of October and culminating on the 10th of the month, in honor of Senior San Francisco de Asis. |
CHURCH OF SAN FRANCISCO DE ASIS - NAGA CITY
Naga City is located in the south-central part of the province, a forty-five (45) minute jeepney ride from Barangay Poblacion Pardo.
The name of the city comes from the word, Naga, referring to the country’s national tree, the Narra. The town folks believed that the area has thick foliages of Narra trees. Since then, the settlers of this place used the word, Naga, a Cebuano derivative for the tree, to name the place as abundant with Narra trees.
The city is one of the visitas of San Nicolás. It was established as an independent municipio (municipality) and parroquia (parish) on June 12, 1829 under the patronage of San Francisco de Asis, founder of the Franciscan Friars Minor. During the parochial administration of Father Simon Aguirre in 1850, the church structure was constructed. The layout of the structure was based on the plans of the expert church-builder, Bishop Santos Gomez Marañon. In 1855, the stone convent was built under the tenure of Father Enrique Magaz. He served as the curate of Naga on 1857 until 1864.
During World War II, the church complex was heavily damaged by frequent bombings and air raids. Also the belfry and convent were not spared by the war and were totally destroyed. Through the efforts of Monsignor Cesar Alcoseba, the new church belfry was constructed on 1979. A new rectory that replaced the destroyed one was built in the mid-1970s by Father Arturo Tecson.
The details of the church facade. |
According to the locals, the façade is the central feature of the church. Attested by this statement, an old devotee (or a parishioner) of the church remarked, “Nindot kaayo ning simbahana uy!, kahibawo ba mo [speaking to her fellow devotees] nga ang portada o atubangan sa simbahan sa Naga nag-inusara ra gayud sa tibuok probinsya.” (“Oy! The church is very beautiful and grandeur, do you know that the decorated frontage of the church is the only façade that is very well-defined and enrich with inscriptions in the entire province of Cebu!). According to the author of Spanish Churches in the Philippines, Coseteng stated that the carvings of images and symbols in basso relievo (moldings) are similar to the Islamic and indigenous Central American influences called Tequitequi.
Praedicate Evangelium Creaturae - Preach the gospel to every living being |
The church is easy to access because it sits at the junction of the national highway and is equidistant to the Plaza Bonifacio, City Hall Complex and the Metro Gaisano Supermart. The church also supervises a school that caters the information of the Catholic Faith to the Naga youths.
Like most churches in the Philippines, whether old or modern in design, it is cruciform in shape and thick buttresses with domes support the structure.
San Francisco with the Messiah, shown as the center most piece of the retablo |
The life-size pedestal of San Francisco de Asis, facing the west, in the plaza. |
Bibliography:
Files of the Saint Thomas of Villanova Parish of Pardo, Cebu City
Devotees of Saint Francis of Assisi Parish of Naga City
Files of the Saint Francis of Assisi Parish of Naga City
Atutubo, Rankin, Bernardino, Hukom, Sta. Ana-Rankin and Gonzalez. Philippine History and Government, Quezon City; Phoenix Publishing House, 2007