After visiting the churches of
Dupax del Sur and Bayombong in Nueva Vizcaya our next stops were already the
churches of the province of Isabela. We
visited eight of their heritage churches.
The history of Christianity in the province
of Isabela is intimately linked with that of its sister provinces in the
Cagayan Valley region, namely Cagayan and Nueva Vizcaya. All three provinces
were just one political unit called Cagayan during the early Spanish period. Mission
stations in the area which later became settlements were founded by Augustinian
and Dominican friars as early as 1717.
In 1841 the province of Vizcaya
was created occupying the entire lower half of the Cagayan Valley. This divided
the region into two provinces, the demarcation line cutting horizontally across
what is now Isabela. Until 1856 Isabela was just part of the provinces of
Cagayan and Nueva Vizcaya.
In 1856, Isabela province was
created, deriving its territory half from Cagayan and half from Nueva Vizcaya.
It was named after Queen Isabela of Spain, the reigning monarch at that time.
Isabela is now the center province of the Cagayan Valley known as Region II.
The entire region is traversed longitudinally by the Cagayan River, the largest
and the longest river in the country which the Spaniards called the Rio Grande,
or larger river. The capital of Isabela became Ilagan.
Today, Isabela is one of the rice
granaries of the country. It is also known for its sprawling fertile valley and
forests that are abounding in flora and fauna. It is home to Magat Dam and
Tourism Complex known to be the highest dam in Asia. It is second largest
province in the country in terms of land area.
ALICIA CHURCH
The first church that we visited in Isabela was the church of Alicia. It
was almost noontime when we reached the place and it was just ideal for picture
taking of the church.
|
Facade of the church of Alicia with its distinctive decorative pinnacles. |
|
Like other churches in Isabela, the interior of the church is already new. |
|
A more than life-size statue of the Our Lady of Atocha stands in front of the church plaza |
|
The altar retablo of Our Lady of Atocha Parish in Alicia |
Alicia Church has the Nuestra Señora de
Atocha as its patron saint. It was built by Fr. Tomas Calderon, OP and
inaugurated in 1849. It is built of solid stone walls, doors of thick and heavy
hardwood and high narrow windows. The town of Alicia was formerly known as
Angadanan which was a town in Nueva Vizcaya. In 1776, the town of Angadanan was
transferred to its present site in the province of Isabela. In a reorganization
done in the first decades of the American occupation, the seat of the town was
transferred to a barrio called Camacauan. This site became known as Angadanan
Nuevo and Angadanan became just a barrio called Angadanan Viejo. However, in
1949 the barrio of Angadanan Viejo was made into a municipality and given the
name Alicia in memory of President Quirino’s wife who was executed by the
Japanese during their infamous occupation of the Philippines. Our Lady of
Atocha was restored as its patroness. In the meantime, Angadanan Nuevo dropped
its Nuevo and simply became known as Angadanan with St. Vincent Ferrer as its
titular.
|
The old buttresses of the Alicia church still remain |
CAUAYAN CITY (NUESTRA SEÑORA DEL PILAR)
Cauayan Church, under the patronage of
Nuestra Senora del Pilar has only its original facade remaining. The original
belfry is in ruins while a new nave and belfry was constructed. Like Tumauini,
the facade has lots of interesting bas relief and portions of the bricks have
numbers and symbols etched on it.
NATIONAL SHRINE OF OUR LADY OF THE VISITATION, Brgy. Guibang, Gamu
Although not a
heritage church, the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Visitation in Brgy.
Gibang, Gamu, Isabela is a popular pilgrimage site. It is along the National Highway before
reaching the town proper of Gamu if one is coming from Cauayan City.
|
The National Shrine of the Visitation is found along the national highway. |
|
Altar of the Shrine |
GAMU, ISABELA (SANTA ROSA DE LIMA PARISH)
The Gamu Church was built around
1750 under the patronage of Sta. Rosa de Lima. Compared to the other Isabela
Churches, it is more austere and quaint with its facade quite simple and
decorated with a few bas relief of which notable are the Dominican Order
symbols at the arch framing the main entrance. The town of Gamu is about a kilometer away from the National highway.
|
The simple facade of the Gamu church with its simple decorative pinnacle. |
|
St. Rose of Lima, the Patron saint of Gamu. |
|
Main door of the church of Gamu with a few bas reliefs as ornamentation |
|
Altar of the church in Gamu |
|
The church of Gamu is narrow |
2 comments:
Hi,
What time did you take the pic of Cauayan Church?
thanks,
Hello, we were at the Cauayan church at past one in the afternoon.
Post a Comment