Abhishek's PostCrossing Journey: Philippines

Showing posts with label Philippines. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Vigan City, Phillipines

The City of Vigan [spanish: la cuidad de vigan / ilocano: la cuidad ti vigan] is a 3rd class city in the province of Ilocos Sur, Philippines. It is the capital city of Ilocos Sur. The city, located on the western coast of the large island of Luzon, facing the South China Sea.
It is a World Heritage Site in that it is one of numerous Hispanic towns in the Philippines, and is well-known for its cobblestone streets, and a unique architecture that fuses Philippine building design, and construction with colonial European architecture.

Sto. Tomas de Villanueva Church, Miag-ao, Iloilo, Philippines

The Miag-ao Church was built in 1786 by Spanish Augustinian missionaries and was declared as part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Baroque Churches of the Philippines" in 1993. On the front facade, which is flanked by two watchtower belfries, one can see the unique blending of Spanish and native influences.

Banaue Rice Terraces, Philippines

Monday, February 9, 2009

Puerto Princesa Subterranean River, Philippines

The Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park is located about 50 kilometers north of the city of Puerto Princesa, Palawan, Philippines. The National Park is located in the Saint Paul Mountain Range on the northern coast of the island. It is bordered by St. Paul Bay to the north and the Babuyan River to the east. The City Government of Puerto Princesa has managed the National Park since 1992. It is also known as St. Paul's Subterranean River National Park, or St. Paul Underground River. The entrance to the Subterranean River is a short hike from the town of Sabang. Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park has been nominated for the "New Seven Wonders of Nature" competition.

Paoay, Ilocos Norte, Philippines

Another one of the Paoay Church.
Read more another post Paoay Church, Philippines

San Agustín Church, Philippines

San Agustín Church is a Roman Catholic church under the auspices of The Order of St. Augustine, located inside the historic walled city of Intramuros in Manila. Completed by 1607, it is the oldest church currently standing in the Philippines. No other surviving building in the Philippines has been claimed to pre-date San Agustin Church.

In 1993, San Agustin Church was one of four Philippine churches constructed during during the Spanish colonial period designated by the UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, under the classification "Baroque Churches of the Philippines". It had been named a National Historical Landmark by the Philippine government in 1976.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Ilocos Sur, Vigan, Philippines

Philippines-8, originally uploaded by Abhishek's Postcard World.

Ilocos Sur is a province of the Philippines located in the Ilocos Region in Luzon. Its capital is Vigan City and borders Ilocos Norte and Abra to the north, Mountain Province to the east, and La Union and Benguet to the south. To the west of Ilocos Sur is the South China Sea.

Paoay Church, Philippines

Philippines-9, originally uploaded by Abhishek's Postcard World.

St. Augustine Church (most popularly known as "Paoay Church") was built in 1694 commissioned by the Augustinian friars led by Fr. Antonio Estavillo. The Church was completed in 1710 and rededicated in 1896. Considered as the most outstanding variant of the "earthquake Baroque", Paoay Church was built of baked bricks, coral rocks, salbot (tree sap) and lumber, and has 24 carved buttresses. The lower part of the facade was made of stuccoed brick while the upper facaed is made of coral blocks. Local materials were said to be made of mixing sand , lime, sugarcane juice and then boiling the mixture with mangeao (salbot) leaves, leather and rice straw for two nights. Its belltower, which is detached from its main building, is made of coral stone and was used by the Katipuneros as an observation post in 1896 and again by Filipino soldiers during World War II. Earthquakes damaged portions of the church in 1865 and 1885. In an excavation conducted inside the church in 2000, a prehistoric human skeleton and fragmented ceramics were discovered and are now on display at the National Museum. The Paoay Church was declared a national treasure by then President Ferdinand Marcos. Now included in UNESCO's World Heritage List, Paoay Church had revealed several structural decays after centuries of exposure to the elements and will soon undergo restoration under the auspices of UNESCO.

Miag-ao Church, Philippines

Philippines-7, originally uploaded by Abhishek's Postcard World.

Friday, January 30, 2009

Banaue Rice Terraces, Philippines

Philippines-3, originally uploaded by Abhishek's Postcard World.

The Banaue Rice Terraces are 2000-year old terraces that were carved into the mountains of Ifugao in the Philippines by ancestors of the Batad indigenous people. The Rice Terraces are commonly referred to by Filipinos as the "Eighth Wonder of the World". It is commonly thought that the terraces were built with minimal equipment, largely by hand. The terraces are located approximately 1500 meters (5000 ft) above sea level and cover 10,360 square kilometers (about 4000 square miles) of mountainside. They are fed by an ancient irrigation system from the rainforests above the terraces. It is said that if the steps are put end to end it would encircle half the globe.

Mayon Volcano, Philippines

Philippines-2, originally uploaded by Abhishek's Postcard World.

Mayon Volcano is an active stratovolcano in the province of Albay, in the Bicol Region, on the island of Luzon, in the Philippines.

Renowned as the "Perfect Cone" because of its almost perfectly conical shape, Mayon is situated 15 kilometres northwest of Legazpi City.