Mia-gao Church, Panay Island, Philippines. January 2016
Santo Tomás de Villanueva Parish Church was actually the inspiration for my journey to Panay where I discovered Roxas City [see: Roxas City], Iloilo's Riverwalk [see: Rivewalk], and Guimeras Island [see: Guimeras Island], too. My friend JRC had done a "round Panay" tour of old churches with some friends a few months previous and told me about the amazing old churches he had seen. I did some research and learned about Mia-gao Church and thought it was extremely worthy of a visit. Expectations were high (a danger), but the place ended up being worth the effort to get there.
The first decision was how to travel there from Iloilo. Public transport meant a local bus ride and, admittedly, local buses in the Philippines were not my favorite form of transport. However, JRC convinced me to save the money by not hiring a taxi (which would have been very expensive) and we took the bus from downtown Iloilo, close to the hotel where I had been sick a couple of years before. The ride started out crowded, but quickly thinned as we moved down the coast. At times the road paralleled the sea and there were great views out over the Panay Gulf. The rural Philippines can be glorious. Finally, the bus stopped literally in front of the church in little Mia-gao.
Mia-gao and a handful of other churches in the Philippines are a UNESCO World Heritage Site "Baroque Churches of the Philippines".
... a new church was constructed in 1787 through forced labor under the supervision of Fray Francisco Gonzales, parish priest and Spanish gobernadorcillo Domingo Libo-on It was built on the highest point of the town to guard from invaders called Tacas. After ten years, the church was completed in 1797. It was designed with thick walls to serve as protection from invaders. It was severely damaged during the Spanish revolution in 1898 but was later rebuilt, fire in 1910, the second World War and earthquake in 1948. The present day Miagao church is the third church built since its establishment in 1731. To preserve the church, it underwent restoration in 1960. This was completed in 1962.
The church's over-all architectural style falls under the Baroque Romanesque architectural style. Its ochre color is due to the materials used in constructing the church: adobe, egg, coral and limestone. The church's foundation is 6 meters deep and the massive stone walls at 1.5 meters thick are intensified through the use of 4 meter thick setback buttresses as protection to the Moro invaders as stipulated under Royal Decree 111 of 1573 (Law of the Indies).
The façade of Miagao church consists of an ornately decorated bas-relief in the middle of two huge watchtower belfries on each side. The bas-relief is a mixed influence of Medieval Spanish, Chinese, Muslim and local traditions and elements, a unique characteristic of the church façade. A prominent part of the façade is a coconut tree depicted as the tree of life where St. Christopher holds on. St. Christopher is dressed in local and traditional clothing carrying the Child Jesus on his back. The rest of the façade features the daily life of the people of Miagao during that time including native flora (like papaya, coconut and palm tree) and fauna.
(Wikipedia)
The feel of the building was one of being cared for and honored - not necessarily the same as other churches I had visited in the Philippines which seemed to be in various stages of decay. The level of exterior decoration was on a completely different level compared to other houses of worship - that front façade was stunning. Since it was not a holy day nor Sunday, we were alone walking around the interior. The inside was dark, but not oppressive - like a welcoming cavern pierced by doors and windows inviting in shafts of the brilliant tropical sun. In spite of its damage over the years in wars and natural disasters, the building was in good condition (perhaps the World Heritage status played a part?). There are many Spanish colonial churches in the Philippines, and JRC did not oversell Mia-gao. It remains the best church I visited in the Philippines and inspired me to see the others in that World Heritage group.
Besides that, without Mia-gao, I would have never made it to Roxas City, the Seafood Capital of the Philippines!
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