Place: San Agustin Church and Museum (Intramuros, Manila)
Date: 09 August 2008

After filling our tummies with a light lunch, it’s time for us to continue with the heritage tour. We walked from the restaurant to San Agustin Church, but there was a wedding going on, so we decided to check the museum instead. We paid 100 pesos (roughly 2 USD) each for the ticket, and we’re off to roam around the museum.

Before I give you a tour inside, let me first show you how the outside of the church looks like. It’s essential that I show you the facade of the church, because it would help me tell details of what’s inside.

This was taken 15 June 2008, when the family together with Uncle Pete and his family went to the church. You can read the full story of that here.

Like what I have said in that post (if you didn’t check it out), this church is considered one of the oldest because this is still the original church that was built in 1607. Over the course of time there were changes, yes, but overall, it’s still the same church.

But if you will take a look at the picture of the church, you will notice that the left bell tower was basically missing. That’s because during World War 2, a bomb hit near the church, the bell tower was damaged, but the bell of that tower is what now welcomes you as you enter the museum. The bell on the picture above is the original bell - a survivor of WW2 bombing.

Pictures are only allowed in the halls, but I managed to get a few snapshots. Yeah, I am a bad blogger for breaking the rules, which is why most of the pictures were blurred (bad karma?). Here’s a tour around the museum. By the way, the gray building on the right side of the church was the museum. It’s a very big museum divided into rooms, and the pictures I will share is a collection of pictures from all the rooms.

*** antique statuettes. notice that some are headless. ***

*** robes worn by former priests. ***

*** just one of the many hallways. here tourists can sit if they’re already tired, or take a look at the paintings in the walls. some church materials like the cart for the images are also on display in this area. ***

*** the part where the bomb hit the area was turned into a cemetery, and this is the memoriam for all those who died on that hit. the spanish flag wasn’t part of the memoriam, it was a flag used by the tour guide ivan dy. he was touring some foreigners that time. ***

*** this is what i call, “the passion of the christ.” not a good shot, i was in a rush. ***

There were stairs leading tourists to the second floor where the choir loft was located. Here are pictures from the loft:

*** the pipe organ on the left side and the hymn book on the right side of the picture - which is in the middle of the loft. the red part in the middle of the picture was the altar of the church. great ceiling, eh? ***

*** where the choir members sit.***

*** the pipe organ. i am not sure if it’s still working. ***

From the choir loft, we noticed that the wedding just ended, so we went to the church to take pictures before another wedding commences. I already shared some pictures of the church in my old post, so here are just a few of the final shots:

*** a picture of the church from the choir loft. now i guess it’s obvious why i want to get married here. hehehe. ***

*** the choir loft was the one on the top. ***

*** just a part of the very beautiful door. ***

Whew… sorry for flooding the post with pictures, but come to think of it, I don’t have to say sorry because these pictures are part of the very rich heritage of my country and my religion, and I am more than happy to be sharing it to the rest of the world.

By the way, if you want to get married here, the church fee is about 20 - 25 thousand pesos. I forgot the exact figure. Considering that this is the oldest church in the country, I guess it was well worth it. I am still hoping to get married here, but if my future husband cannot afford it, I will just take him to the church, sit in one of the benches and exchange our vows. After all, it’s not the wedding that’s really important but the marriage and the relationship.

Hope you enjoyed the trip.

*** Jenn ***