| Baroque Churches of the Philippines |
| San Agustin Church Intramuros Manila |
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- UNESCO has inscribed 4 Philippines churches built in the late 16th
Century as World Heritage Sites. These are located in District of
Intramuros, City of Manila, Paoy, Santa Maria, Province of Ilocos Sur
San Agustin, Paoay, Province of Ilocos and Miag-ao, Province of Iloilo.
They are culturally significant for their unique architectural style
which is the Chinese and Philippine craftsmen interpretation of this
European architectural style.
- The four churches are nominated as
outstanding examples of the Philippine interpretation of the Baroque
style. Several examples of Latin American Baroque churches and
ensembles have been found worthy of inscription on the World Heritage
List, and the peripheral development of this style in the Philippines
deserves equal recognition.
- The Church of the Immaculate
Conception of San Agustin was the first church built on the island of
Luzon in 1571, immediately after the Spanish conquest of Manila. A site
within the district of Intramuros was assigned to the Augustinian
Order, who were the first to evangelize in the Philippines. In 1587 the
impermanent earliest building in wood and palm fronds was replaced by a
church and monastery in stone, the latter becoming the Augustinian
mother house in the Philippines. As a result the church was richly
endowed, with a fine retablo, pulpit, wall paintings, lectern, and
choir stalls. It was the only structure in Intramuros to survive the
liberation of Manila in 1945.
- The mission at Santa Maria,
founded in 1765 on a narrow, flat plain between the sea and the central
mountain range of Luzon, was one of the most successful Augustinian
houses in the Philippines. It served as the base for the
Christianization of the northern parts of the archipelago.
- The
Augustinian mission station of Miag-ao became an independent parish in
1731, when a simple church and convent ( parish house ) were built.
However, destruction of the town by Muslim pirates in 1741 and 1754 led
to the town being rebuilt in a more secure location. The new church,
constructed in 1787 to 1797, was built as a fortress, to withstand
further incursions. It was, however, damaged severely by fire on two
occasions, during the revolution against Spain in 1898 and in World War
II.
- The town of Paoay is called " Bombay " in early documents,
in keeping with the legend that the earliest inhabitants came from
India. It is first mentioned in 1593 and became an Augustinian
independent parish in 1686. Building work on the present church started
in 1694 and it was finally completed in 1710.
- The Church of
the Immaculate Conception of San Agustin is box-like and rather plain.
Two bell-towers were added to the squat facade in 1854, but the
northern cracked in the 1880 earthquake and had to be demolished. The
interior of the church is more important than the exterior. The
existing wall paintings date from the 19th century, but research has
shown that they overlie the original tempera murals. Of special
interest is the series of cryptocol lateral chapels lining both sides
of the nave. The walls separating them act as buttresses, similar to
the Wandofeiler of German Baroque churches. The stone barrel vault,
dome, and arched vestibule are all unique in the Philippines. A
monastery complex was formerly linked to the church by a series of
cloisters, arcades, courtyards, and gardens, but all except one
building were destroyed in 1945.
- Unlike other town churches in
the Philippines, which conform with the Spanish tradition of sitting
them on the central plaza, the Church of Nuestra Sefiora de la Asuncion
in Santa Maria with its convent are on a hill completely surrounded by
a sturdy defensive wall. Also unusual are the sitting of the convent
parallel to the facade of the church and that of the separate
bell-tower ( characteristic of Philippine-Hispanic architecture ) at
the midpoint of the nave wall. This arrangement was dictated by the
topography of the hill on which it is situated. Built in brick, the
church follows the standard Philippine layout, with a monumental facade
masking a straight roof line covering a long rectangular building. It
is alleged to be built on a solid raft as a precaution against
earthquake damage. The walls are devoid of ornament but have delicately
carved side entrances and strong buttresses, also designed to resist
earthquakes. The curved pediment motif is repeated in the church,
school, and cemetery.
- The Church of Santo Tomas de Villanueva
stands on the highest point of Miag-ao, its towers serving as lookouts
against Muslim raids. These and the squat appearance of the church
underline its role as a fortress, and it is the finest surviving
example of " fortress Baroque ". The sumptuous facade epitomizes the
Filipino transfiguration of western decorative elements, with the
figure of St Christopher on the pediment dressed in native clothes,
carrying the Christ Child on his back, and holding on to a coconut palm
for support. The entire riotously decorated facade is flanked by
massive tapering bell towers of unequal heights.
- The Church of
San Agustin at Paoay is considered to be the most outstanding example
in the Philippines of " earthquake Baroque ", first defined by Pal
Kelman in relation to Latin America. Fourteen buttresses are ranged
along the lines of a giant volute supporting a smaller one and
surmounted by pyramidal finials. A pair of buttresses at the midpoint
of each nave wall are stairways for access to the roof. The lower part
of the apse and most of the walls are constructed of coral stone
blocks, the upper levels being finished in brick, but this order is
reversed on the facade. The massive coral stone bell-tower, which was
added half a century after the church was completed, stands at some
distance from the church, again as a protection against damage during
earthquakes. All four churches are authentic in that they represent
the progressive evolution of the structures of places of worship that
have been in continuous use since their original construction.
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To
quote the report of the mission carried out by ICOMOS expert Jorge
Gazaneo (1992), " No Philippine church is a complete example of one art
period, but a living document of how time and context have left traces
on the early founding intentions of the original designer builder . . .
at the crossroads of different cultures, Malay, Chinese, European,
American. The architecture and art of The Philippines should be valued
on standards different from those developed by European scholars ".
These
churches are architecture built in response to local natural and
climatic conditions by Filipino and Chinese craftsmen with no knowledge
of European architecture. The men of God who commissioned them
reinterpreted the European Baroque to establish a peripheral Baroque
which is deceptively western in appearance but wholly Filipino in
spirit and context.
The architecture of The Philippines
archipelago is a unique one and comparative analysis can only be
internal. The dating and settings of the four churches selected for the
nomination represent a good sample of the development of this style
over some 150 years.
The state of conservation of the churches
at Miag ao and Paoay gives cause for concern about their long term
future. No evidence was supplied in the nomination dossiers of the
exact extent of each site nor of any buffer zone. However, the
Philippines authorities subsequently provided details of adequate
protective zones around the Churches of Nuestra Sefiora de la Asuncion,
San Agustin Paoay, and San Tomas de Villanueva. In the case of San
Agustin protection is afforded by its situation within the Preservation
Zone of Intramuros.
This group of churches established a style
of building and design that was adapted to the physical conditions in
the Philippines and had an important influence on later church
architecture in the region. The Baroque churches of The Philippines
represent the fusion of European church design and construction with
local materials and decorative motifs to form a new church building
tradition.
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