Popularly known as the Miagao Church, Sto. Tomas de Villanueva Parish Church is a world heritage site found in the province of Miagao, Iloilo. This Roman Catholic Parish Church is part of the list of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites along side with San Agustin Church of Manila; Nuestra Se�ora de la Asuncion Church of Ilocos Sur; and
San Agustin Church of Ilocos Norte.
How did I got there?Well, it is part of our Ilo Ilo city tour. Our group composed of 9 heads rented out a van for 2,500 and a visit to Miagao Church is part of that itinerary. We met the van owner at the airport of Iloilo. Price may vary depending on how good you are on haggling and to your itinerary. Our group decided to just rented out a van instead of getting tours from agencies because of two reasons: 1) We don't have to follow any time table. 2) We're the one to decide where we want to go. We just give a list of places we want to visit to the van owner and just let him decide the sequence.
For further details, I will be creating a separate blogpost of our Iloilo city tour.
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Those intricate design of Miagao Church...
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Moving forward, Miagao Church is the last site we visited on our tour and probably the farthest site from the airport. It is approximately an hour away from Iloilo City.
By the time we reach the Miagao Church, I couldn't help myself but to adore the beauty of this structure. It is enormously big and has elaborately-decorated facade and walls. The wall carvings in front of the church is such a work of art which is truly captivating. (I know this is wrong but...) As soon as we got off of the van, we waste no time and took selfies and group photos in front of the church. Since this is a popular site in town, expect it to be crowded. Luckily, there was no mass being held during our visit so there were only few people touring around Miagao Church. After our photo op outside Miagao Church, we then headed inside to pray.
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| Know more about Miagao Church |
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Side view of the church
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Despite being big and popular, the interior design of this church remains simple. It was not as grand as I thought it would be but it was elegant in its own perfect way. You can clearly see that the people of Miagao really put a great effort to preserve the church. Miagao Church has the typical set up of a catholic church. There's an alter in front, long benches with kneeling pad, and has wall fans on both sides. But what makes it stand-out among others is how spacious and humble it is inside. They do not over-do the interior design of Miagao Church. There were actually no design on its long ceiling except for its plain chandeliers. The fanciest thing I saw inside is its alter. Nothing more, nothing less.
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| Look at how well maintained this church is... |
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Simply captivating and a timeless classic
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Miagao Church is truly a world heritage site. It was built hundreds of years ago and survived through ages. This was the last site we visited before we went back to Manila and I am proud to say that we've saved the best for last. The long travel is worth it so do not forget to visit this site when in Iloilo!
