Crisologo Street at Night

We rested afternoon away after a whole day of exploring at the Heritage City of Vigan. When we got out again it was already sundown and the whole city of Vigan seemed to have gone home and fallen asleep. It is funny how this already sleepy town can get even sleepier at sundown.

Vigan Cathedral at Night

Plaza Salcedo is lit with brilliant lights. You can find residents just sitting around the plaza and relaxing. There are hardly any motorcycles around anymore so the place is really very quiet. The provincial capitol is similarly lit but the Vigan Cathedral is the one that steals the show. It is brightly lit and even the inside of the church is very beautiful at night. Even at this hour there are still worshippers. It turns out there was a wedding being held and there was a nice horse drawn chariot outside the church to ferry the newly wed couple out. Quite romantic, don’t you think?

Dinner at Cafe Leona

Further along that stretch of road is the old quarter which we have visited earlier. This time there are hardly any people. All the stores are closed, the streets are lit up by incandescent bulbs which lend to the atmosphere. It was really nice to be walking at such a nice and well maintained place without the usual tourist crowd. Although the shops are already closed, the walk down Crisologo Street is like walking back in time. It really feels like you’ve been transported four hundred years into the past. The occasional horse drawn carriage or calesa along Crisologo Streets also helps. In fact, this is something I didn’t do, I would recommend trying the calesas during this time as it is really very atmospheric.

Outside the Vigan Cathedral

We walked back to the start of Crisologo Street and had dinner at Cafe Leona. It is a nice little restaurant serving Filipino and Ilocano fare. We ordered their Ilocano specialties bagnet, which is fried pork, the Ilocano sausage and a vegetable dish. Cafe Leona is a little more upscale but it has a great location. Customers can choose to sit outside the restaurant itself, al fresco, which is not a bad idea at all. The food was nice, though I don’t really see what was so different about local specialties since they are very similar to Filipino food I had before. Nevertheless, a meal at Cafe Leona is recommended if only for the wonder atmosphere.

It was really a wonderful day of wandering aroud the streets of the city. And capping it off with dinner along this historic street is a fitting end for our exploration here in the historic city of Vigan.

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Vigan Cathedral at Plaza Salcedo

The plaza is a standard structure in cities established by the Spaniards in the Philippines. This is usually anchored by a big church and then government buildings surround it. Plaza Salcedo in Vigan is no different from this standard template. In fact, this template is to be replicated countless times throughout the archipelago.

Scale Model of the Area

As expected, Plaza Salcedo is anchored by a church, in this case, the Vigan Cathedral. The church is designed with what is known as “earthquake baroque” architecture. Because of the Philippines location, earthquakes are common here so normal baroque architecture brought in by the Spaniard will not stand the sometimes violent earthquakes that hit the country. As a result, earthquake baroque architecture was born. Emphasis is put in ensuring the stability of the structure, as a result, the churches that were built have a fortress like feeling with their thick bases and butresses.

UNESCO World Heritage Site Marker

Vigan Cathedral is also known as St. Paul Metropolitan Cathedral and is naturally the center of the city of Catholics. An interesting point about the Vigan Cathedral is that the bell tower is built separately from the the main cathedral. This is also a result of earthquake baroque. Interestingly, the bell tower is eight sided, reflecting Chinese influence at that time.

City Hall of Vigan

Also bounding Plaza Salcedo is the Archbishop’s House. This continues the template that all important structures are around the plaza area. The provincial capitol of Ilocos Sur in one side of the Plaza. Completing the plaza is the city hall of the city of Vigan itself. Needless to say, Plaza Salcedo is the hub of Vigan. On weekends, people would just relax and sit around the fountains of the plaza, a scene you can hardly find in Manila where malling is considered a weekend activity.

Juan de Salcedo

A bit of history, the plaza was named after the founder of the city of Vigan, the Spanish conquistador Juan de Salcedo. He actually has a statue in the plaza. Juan de Salcedo was a part of the Spanish expedition that arrived in the Philippines, he spent most of his time in Northern Luzon and founded several Spanish cities along the way with Vigan as his home base. He also served well in repelling Chinese pirates from Manila when it was attacked.

I would admit that this is certiainly a very relaxed city, a far cry from the madness that Manila is. I don’t find it far fetched to spend a whole afternoon just sitting by the plaza and reading a book. Of course, if you are hungry, there is always that McDonald’s beside the plaza.

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Diorama at the Burgos Museum

At the far end of the main plaza in Vigan is the Burgos Museum. The musuem is named after the priest Fr. Jose Burgos, who was born here. Fr. Burgos, studied for the priesthood in Manila and became a champion of the Filipino clergy. This incurred the ire of the Spanish friars. After a mutiny was crushed, Fr. Burgos, together with two other priests, Fr. Mariano Gomez and Fr. Jacinto Zamora were implicated in the failed mutiny. They were all executed by gorrote, strangulation with an iron collar in 1872 at what is now known as Luneta. They so inspired the oppressed Filipinos that they the three were nicknamed Gomburza – after the surnames of the three priests.

Bedroom at the Burgos Museum

Like the Crisologo Museum, this museum also contains memorabilia associated with Fr. Jose Burgos. The bedroom and even the dining area were dusty but still in good condition. It seems that there isn’t much funding going here, we actually had to come back to the Burgos Museum since there wasn’t anyone to watch over the place the first time. The place has an interesting mix of other stuff like dioramas of historical events. It even has some native stuff on display like a native rice grinder.

Traditional Coffin

The museum isn’t really that big and can be explored in just under an hour. What is interesting is that it seems that Vigan seems to have a lot of these museums, compared to Manila which is just a dizzying maze of malls and people.

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Fountain at Mira Hills

Just nearby the Pagburnayan are the Mira Hills. This place is also known as the Filipino-Spanish Friendship Park. This is a popular place for outings and picnics. The place is not that big, but there are a lot of trees that provide a nice shade. There are several fountains in the area. It also happens to have a water reservoir that provides water to the residents.

Tank to Store Water

Among the places we’ve visited in Vigan so far, this seems to be quite a big letdown. There really isn’t anything much to see here. Other than to just sit around an quietly let the day pass. The place is a nice place for meditation and relaxation, though with the popularity of this place is suppose this would be next to impossible to do on weekends.

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National Folk Artist Fidel Go Plying His Craft

I got the chance to see one of the more unique industries in Ilocos Sur. This jar making. It is called a burnay here and it made by hand with a real potter’s wheel. It turns out the knowledge of making the burnay comes from beyond the shores of the Philippines.

The Kiln

It is said that the knowledge of making burnay came from the Chinese, possibly even before the time of the Spanish. Right now, we are at Ruby Pottery. And in front of us is Fidel Go, one of the descendants of the Chinese settlers who came here to ply their trade. Fidel set out to show all the visitors present how the jars a made. I’ve never seen on made in front of my eyes and I could say it is really fascinating. Apparently it takes great skill and care in building the jar if not it will be misshapen. The potters wheel is huge and it driven by foot, the potter first turns the wheel around a few times and once there is enough momentum he can start working on the burnay jar. The wheel is huge so it doesn’t loose energy that fast.

Burnay Jars

Visitors can try their hand at pottery making too if they want. I got a chance to have a small chat with Fidel Go, and he is a very typical Filipino who dresses normally and very comfortably. His ancestors came from Fujian, China, just like most Chinese Filipinos. Surprisingly, he still speaks good Hokkien dialect, though I would admit that he really doesn’t look Chinese to me. Unknown to me, Fidel Go was conferred the National Folk Artist Award, and this is something he is very proud of. That is why he still makes the burnay jars himself.

Souvenir Burnay Jars

There aren’t a lot of burnay jar factories in the Philippines anymore. It is a shame because their products are really quite impressive. Too bad, I don’t really know what to do with them, nor do I have the space to keep them. The jars are great for people who have gardens. Further exploration of the premises will show where the burnay jars are heated. There is a very long kiln. It is hot and it would be best to keep your distance from the kiln.

The title of this post is the name the people call this area – the place where the burnay jars are made. Elsewhere in the shop, is a souvenir stand where visitors can buy their own burnay jars to bring back. I’m not really into this kind of thing, so I just took a few snaps, said goodbye to Fidel Go and left.

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Crisologo Museum

At the end of heritage area of Crisologo street, is the ancestral home of the former congressman Floro Crisologo. The Crisologo’s are one of Vigan’s most prominent political families. Now, their home has been converted into a family shrine and a museum housing all sorts of memorabilia.

Chevy of the Crisologo's

I’m not very fond of museums like these but since we were already there I might as well have a look. Interestingly, it is okay to be taking pictures inside this particular musuem. The rooms house everything Crisologo. Governor Carmeling Crisologo was ambushed in 1961, the car she was ambushed in was even displayed in the museum. Fortunately, she survived. However, it seems the family has a lot of enemies, her husband Congressman Floro Crisologo was killed in church at 1970.

Antique Furniture

There were rooms where the Crisologo’s worked complete with all the books and papers they used back then. There is even a bedroom and living room with colonial era furniture. The walls all display photographs of everything Crisologo. This gives it that shrine feel. However, some of the rooms display much older stuff like a dugout canoe, a tool for grinding rice and some native hats. That is the museum part of it.

Bedroom

The Crisologo Museum offers an insight into how people lived back in the colonial era. It surely will interest history buffs. Even for those who never heard of the Crisologo family, like me, will find the place fascinating.

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Heritage City of Vigan

One of the main reasons why we visited the Ilocos region was to be able to see historic city of Vigan. This place is listed in the UNESCO list of world heritage sites. It would be interesting to see how a world heritage site in the Philippines looks like.

Religious Artifacts on Display

Vigan is the capital of the province of Ilocos Sur found in northern Philippines. This place is noted for its Spanish era buildings and cobblestone streets, most of it was nicely preserved. Even before the Spanish came, Vigan was already a center for trade and commerce. When the Spanish came, the establishment of a military base at present day Vigan only cemented its hold on history.

McDonald's Old Spanish Style

With a history dating back more than 400 years, Vigan certainly has a lot of stories to tell. For most visitors, the must see place here is Crisologo Street or Calle Crisologo. This street is just beside the Vigan Cathedral and it lined with old houses on both sides. The houses were built with a combination of European design and Philippine aesthetics. As expected, most of the houses here were low rise. Most of them only two stories high.

Antiques on Display

The old style design of the houses is really appealing, even the McDonald’s at the main plaza also sports “Spanish” architecture. Of course with Ronald McDonald standing outside the store, it would have been difficult to mistake it for the old houses just behind it.

Most of the houses along this street sell something antique. As expected, a lot of these antiques come in the form of religious figures and furniture. It would be interesting to note that, it is forbidden for motorized vehicles to travel along this street. Thus preserving the cobblestone street. The only vehicle allowed to traverse the street are horse drawn carriages called calesas, further amplifying the old school atmosphere of Vigan.

Horse Drawn Carriage on the Cobblestone Streets of Vigan

It is really a delight to be walking along this street and just admiring the old houses and how the locals and the government have worked together to preserve this wonderful piece of heritage. Having been to similar “old historic towns” in Asia, like Hoi An and Hue, the town of Vigan lends a more authentic feel to it. And there are no touts who wish to sell you stuff either, unlike in Vietnam. And since this is the Philippines, there are not a lot of foreign tourists here. At least no busloads of noisy foreigners out to ruin your day.

Unfortunately, the street itself isn’t really that long. As one walks further down the street the old Spanish houses get replaced by relatively newer houses, although they still have that same antique design. Actually sometimes you might not even notice that you have already left the historic area.

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