It was supposed to be a grand Manila Tour together with my college friends, which includes the tour of whole Intramuros, Lawton area, The National Musuem circle, Luneta Park, Binondo and Baywalk in Roxas Boulevard, but it didn’t materialize! Maybe it is because of the extreme heat (yesterday was the 2nd hottest temperature for the year 2011), or my friends are starting to took pity on me because I was dripping wet yesterday, which is why we cut off the trip half-way. We did manage to do two things in the itinerary which is a visit to the San Agustin Church Museum (a first for me) and Fort Santiago (a 7th for me, I think) and relieve again the past history of Manila.
Formerly The Sta Isabel Convent and Church, it is now houses the Light and Sound Musuem for Rizal (I think?)
The gate that leads to Baluarte De San Diego where me and Floro did manage to sneak up the last time we we're there but the guard didn't catch us. We turned ourselves in. Ang lakas talaga ng loob ni Floro jejeje!
My good friend Joy and Rhea, we're trainmates when we'r studying in PUP back then =D
San Agustin Church, the mesmerizer!
Actually I mistook San Agustin Church in Intramuros for the San Sebastian Church in Mendiola/Recto. I was thinking back then ‘what would be the significance of this Neo-Classical Gothic inspired Church to the history of the Filipino people?” Ignorant as I am I didn’t know that San Agustin was the oldest church in the country and shared a LOT of historical significance in our history!
I remember the first time I entered the grandiose edifice when I attended the wedding of a v.v.v. good friend of mine from the office, Shane, and I was awed with the exquisite design of the church. The main door itself is a treasure already, so Baroque and old style Filipino Church. Shane’s wedding was an eye opener and I promised to myself that I should visit the place again. And so I did yesterday! Woot! Woot!
Entrance fee is Php 100.00 pesos, not bad compared to the Php 75.00 entrance fee at Baluarte De San Diego in Intramuros, which until now I detest because the place used to be free entrance!
The place is MAGICAL!! If you're the type of person who loves history and religion this is a MUST visit! Having read Alfonso Aluit's "By Sword and Fire", I have relieved the idea on how the survivor of The Battle of Manila survived the war. Actually I felt some goosebumps when I entered the place, but the fear was overcome by excitement specially when the huge Bell greeted us at the entrance.
Lot of HUGE Paintings adorn the wall of San Agustin. I wonder if these are the original paintings or just a re-work (since i assume most of their wooden or paper paintings we're burned during the war) but nevertheless it was still awesome to view them hanging from the wall.
Most of the paintings depicts the life of the Agustinians saints like the Spanish friars who was killed in Japan, and other martyrs killed in South America and Africa.
Not to be outdone are the life size paintings of the Agustinians priest who served as the head of the congregation here in Manila
I really admire the preservation works on these paintings,and kudos to those who keep it safe during the war (if this is the original piece ha). Truly remarkable!
Another common fixtures in the museum are the "retablos", San Agustin have a lot of those and the biggest one are located near the entrance. It reminds me the old churches in Laguna where retablos are still a common fixture of the Altar.
I think there were almost a dozen retablos inside the musuem, some are big just like the one in the photo above, and some are small which adorned the hallway kanto. There's also a retablo inside the crypt which doesn't received too much lighting (except for the candles and bulbs) which gives the place an eerie feeling. Scary but worth it!
A collection of sturdy and huge and long tables lined up the hallway as well. Naglaway talaga ako when i saw the drawer LOL! These are the type of furniture I want in my house, big and sturdy!
What irritate me is that the security personnel of the church doesn't give importance to the historical significance of these treasure items. I saw one sikyu who's using the said cabinet as a "drawer" for his log book and some personal stuff! As my Spanish speaking friend Ting would say "Que barbaridad!"
There are also some antiques carrozas near the crypt section of San Agustin. It's nice to know that they still manage to restore and saved this huge carrozas.
While the girls are busy loitering on the second floor, I went alone the crypt section of the church. Certain portions of the crypt are off-limits to photography but I did manage to take some shot on the restricted section, which is a BAD IDEA (I’ll explain later)
The crypt contains the remains of some Manila’s residents who live since 1800. I didn’t checked all the dates inscribe in the lapida but I did notice that most of the interned bodies died during 1942-1945, i.e. the period of World War 2. There is also a special tomb dedicated to the 142 people who died on the crypt during the battle of Manila and their names are etched on the marble tombstone. Most of the dead there are priest, Augustinians, Paules, Capuchins, and Franciscans.
Weird thing happened to me when I tried taking pictures inside; I felt a sudden old feeling and hair rising feeling (yikes! Daming feeling! Lol) when I tried to take some pictures on prohibited section of the crypt. Maybe the souls of the interned are trying to warn me to obey the rules of the museum, call me superstitious but I do trust my instinct: P.
The museum is closed during lunch break (12:00-1:00) and we had our lunch on the lovely Ristorante restaurant just across San Agustin Church. I must admit it’s another “must-try” restaurant here in Manila. They serve Filipino food which is so delicioso and at a very affordable price. I don’t know who the owner of the restaurant is but I did notice some nuns eating there, all smiles and accommodating when we entered the place, maybe their congregation owns the place. Will definitely go back there soon!
After the hearty lunch we returned again to San Agustin Museum, but the girls we’re to full and exhausted parin so they decided to stay on the ground floor to rest, while me and Olive decided to roam around the second floor of the museum. The staircase leading to the second floor is wide maybe to accommodate the much wider cabinet drawer. On the second floor houses the religious garments of the Agustinians priests and some diorama of the previous architecture of the whole San Agustin church and convent.
There’s a lovely balcony as well on the second floor, overlooking the Father Blanco’s Botanical garde. Sadly the garden was destroyed during the war also, but the balcony remains (or re-constructed). See for yourself :D
A collection of Jars are also displayed on the second floor of the Museum which maybe used during the Spanish times as storage. Still im amazed that they still keep the jars intact during the years.
The music room/ choir area is also located on the second floor which has a fantastic view on the altar of the church. It just creep me out to know that there are a lot of nooks and crannies in the church. I mean a lot of things might have happened here during the war.
All in all, the visit to San Agustin was truly remarkable. It’s like being transported to another time period. Ah, the memories of yesteryears, well preserved in the grandiose edifice of this magnificent church. Truly one of a kind, I like!