The City of Vigan on the north west coast of Luzon is a World Heritage
Site listed for its Spanish colonial architecture, cobblestone streets
and unique architecture. The citation for listing said, ‘’ Vigan
represents a unique fusion of Asian building design and construction
with European colonial architecture and planning and that Vigan is an
exceptionally intact and well preserved example of a European trading
town in East and East Asia.’’
'' Vigan, part of the 18th and
19th century network of Asian trading cities, demonstrates a unique
architecture that effortlessly fuses Ilocano, Filipino, Chinese, and
Spanish styles. It also demonstrates, in a tropical Asian setting
rather than in the New World, the typical Spanish colonial urban layout
as specified by the Ley de las Indias, thus linking Vigan to another
network of colonial cities in Latin America.
Vigan is
testimony to the Filipino cultural traditions and lifestyle of the
18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. Its domestic architecture, allowing
business to be conducted on the ground floor and the family to reside
above, reflects deep kinship with its Asian neighbors, where
entrepreneurs preferred to live and work in their houses. The lifestyle
gave rise to streets lined with shop houses, similar to the rows of
Vigan houses that stand next to one another along the narrow streets.
The urban ensemble of Vigan is a group of buildings which, because of
its architecture, its homogeneity, and its place in and relationship
with the landscape, is truly of outstanding universal value from the
point of view of history and art.
The architecture of Vigan is
truly reflective of its roots. It is built from the wood, stone, shells
( kapis ), and terra cotta derived from its surroundings. The houses
are in the traditional bahay na bato style, where the ground floor is
enclosed by stone walls and the upper level is constructed entirely of
wood. A variant to this style exists in Vigan in which both stories of
some houses are built entirely in stone or brick. Vigan is well known
in the Philippines as the last urban area that has maintained the
architecture and urban planning established during the Spanish colonial
period. Modernization and progress are creating pressure for the
transformation of many structures in the historic core zone as well as
the buffer zone. However, Vigan is determined to maintain its
authenticity.
Before the arrival of the Spanish, there was a
small indigenous settlement on what was at that time an island,
consisting wooden or bamboo houses on stilts. In 1572 the conquistador
Juan de Salcedo founded a new town, which he named Villa Ferdinandina,
on this site, and made it his capital when he was appointed Lieutenant
Governor Encomendero of the entire Ilocos region. Intended as a
trading centre rather than a fortress, it was the northernmost city
established in the Philippines by the Spanish. At the end of the 17th
century a new form of architecture evolved, which combined the
traditional construction with the techniques of building in stone and
wood introduced by the Spanish. Brick was introduced by the Augustinian
friars for their churches and other buildings. The seat of the
Archdiocese of Nueva Segovia was transferred there in 1758, making it
the centre of religious activity in the region. In 1778, as a result of
its expansion, it was renamed Ciudad Ferdinandina.
The Mestizo
river was central to the development of the town in the 16th-19th
centuries. Here large sea going vessels could berth in the delta and
small craft communicated with the interior. However, it is now no
longer navigable owing to silting, as a result of which the town is no
longer an island. As the major commercial centre for the region, Vigan
traded directly with China. As a stage in the Manila Acapulco galleon
trade that lasted throughout the Spanish colonial period, it supplied
goods that were shipped across the Pacific to Mexico, and thence
onwards across the Atlantic to Europe. These trading links resulted in
constant exchanges of peoples and cultures between the Ilocanos,
Filipinos, Chinese, Spanish, and ( in the 20th century ) North
Americans.
Vigan is located in the delta of the Abra river,
off the coastal plain of the China Sea, close to the north-east tip of
the island of Luzon. The present-day municipality covers some 27 square
kilometres, divided into nine urban districts and thirty
rural villages. Nearly half the total area is still in
use for agriculture. The Historic Core Zone, which is proposed for
inscription on the World Heritage List, covers an area of 17.25
hectares defined on two sides by the Govantes and Mestizo rivers. The
traditional Spanish checkerboard street plan opens up into a main
plaza, in two parts. The Plaza Salcedo is the longer arm of an L-shaped
open space, with the Plaza Burgos as the shorter. The former is
dominated by the Municipal Hall and the Provincial Capitol and the
latter by the Cathedral. The urban plan of the town closely conforms
with the Renaissance grid plan specified in the Ley de la Indias for
allnew towns in the Spanish Empire. There is, however, a noticeable
difference between Vigan and contemporary Spanish colonial towns in
Latin America in the Historic Core ( known as the Mestizo district ),
where the Latin tradition is tempered by strong Chinese, Ilocano, and
Filipino influences. As its name implies, this district was settled by
affluent families of mixed Chinese Ilocano origin. The building
materials used in Vigan are terra cotta, wood, shells ( kapis ), stone,
and lime, all obtained from the surrounding area. The architecture of
the typical Vigan house is derived from the traditional Filipino
dwelling, the bahay kubo, which is a small one-room hut built of light
woven materials ( wood, bamboo, and thatch ), raised off the ground on
stilts for ventilation and as protection against monsoon flooding. Such
structures are no longer to be found in Vigan, but their influence is
discernible in the much larger bahay na bato ( stone house ). This is a
much more solid structure, with a stone-built lower story surmounted
by a timber-framed upper storey, and with a steeply pitched tiled roof
( reminiscent of traditional Chinese architecture ). The exterior walls
of the upper storey are enclosed by window panels of kapis shells
framed in wood which can be slid back for better ventilation. Most of
the existing buildings were probably built in the mid 18th to late 19th
centuries. Few have escaped internal reorganization to adapt them for
alternative use with the decline of the town's prosperity.
The
Chinese merchants and traders conducted their business from offices and
warehouses on the ground floors of their houses, with the living
quarters above. This is characteristic of Chinese society, to be
observed in other Asian cities such as Penang, Singapore, and the older
sections of Bangkok. The resulting townscape has a special quality not
to be found elsewhere. It is a unique manifestation of the
multi-cultural nature of Filipino society, which harmoniously blends
Ilocano, Filipino, Chinese, and North American elements to produce a
homogeneous whole.
In addition to the domestic and commercial
architecture, Vigan possesses a number of significant public buildings,
which also show multi-cultural influences. These include the
Cathedral
of St Paul ( 1790 to 1800 ), the Archbishop's Palace ( 1783 ), St
Paul's College ( 1892 ), the Catholic Cemetery Chapel ( 1852 ), and the
neo classical early 20th century Provincial Capitol.
The
street pattern is entirely authentic, conforming completely with that
laid down by the Spanish in the 16 th century. The authenticity of the
overall townscape and the open spaces is also high.
So far as the
buildings are concerned, lack of conservation control has resulted in
the use of modern materials such as galvanized iron on roofs instead of
tiles. An awareness of the need to preserve authenticity has only
developed recently in relation to Vigan. Restoration and conservation
practices that respect the authenticity of this town that has developed
organically over several centuries are now being introduced, making use
of the considerable reserve of traditional crafts that survives in the
Philippines.
Vigan is unique among the towns of the
Philippines by virtue of the fact that it is the only one to preserve
much of its Spanish colonial character intact. It is also significant
because of the way in which distinct architectural traditions,
European, Ilocano, Filipino, and Chinese, have fused to create a
homogeneous town scape of great cultural importance. Vigan belongs to a
group of important South East Asian trading cities in which Asian and
European elements blend together, such as Malacca, Macau, Singapore,
and Hoi An. Closest to it is probably Hoi An, where the same pattern of
shop-houses influenced strongly from China can be observed. Vigan
is,however, unique in that it is the only town in this group in which
the rigid Spanish colonial checkerboard street pattern survives intact.
The only surviving parallels in this respect are to be found in Latin
America, but these do not exhibit the multi-cultural fusion that
Vigan demonstrates.
Vigan is the most intact example in Asia of
a planned Spanish colonial town, established in the 16th century. Its
architecture reflects the coming together of cultural elements from
elsewhere in the Philippines and from China with those of Europe to
create a unique culture and town scape without parallels anywhere in
East and South-East Asia. Old Vigan Colonial Houses, the ancestral
houses were built mostly by rich Chinese traders. These great big
houses are made of thick brick walls and plastering with red clay. Tile
roofs are made to survive earthquakes. The Mestizo district where more
than a hundred houses line side by side along Calle Crisologo. St
Paul’s Cathedral, built in 1790 to 1800 by the Augustinians, this
impressive Baroque Vigan Cathedral cathedral has most of its interior
walls well preserved. The 12 altars and 3 naives enhance the church
beauty and grandeur. The bell tower is octagonal and is located 10
meters south of the cathedral. It is a place not to be missed when
visiting Vigan.
Palacio de Arzobispado, built in 1783, it is the
official residence of the Archbishop of Nueva Segovia. The palace was
the headquarters of Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo. Included in the palace is
the Museo Nueva Segovia with a collection of paintings, manuscripts and
religious articles accumulated through the Burgos National Museum, the
museum building is the ancestral house of Padre Jose Burgos. One of the
museum’s best feature are the paintings of Esteban Villanueva depicting
the 1807 Basi Vigan Bell Tower Revolt. The dioramas of local historical
events is worth the visit. Included in the collections are antiques,
manuscripts and other priceless items. There is a Tourist Information
Center in Vigan to help visitors. And if you want to take a break,
there are beaches to go to just a few minutes away from the town.
A
good time to visit Vigan is during the town fiesta. Celebrated for one
whole week concluding on January 25 to commemorate the conversion of
the apostle, St. Paul. The fiesta is marked by street parades, beauty
contest and variety shows on the town plaza. The mestizo district
offers a wonderful glimpse into the Philippines' colonial past. The
ancestral houses were mostly built by Chinese traders using a mixture
of local, Asian and Spanish architectural styles. St. Paul's
Metropolitan Cathedral (admission free) was built by Augustinians
around 1790 and features a unique design intended to minimize
earthquake damage; a style that came to be known as "earthquake
baroque". Look out for the brass communion handrails forged in China.
The eight sided bell tower is just south of the cathedral. Plaza
Salcedo west of the cathedral features a 17 C monument to Juan de
Salcedo, and was also the site of resistance leader Gabriela Silang's
public hanging in 1763. Plaza Burgos and its snack stands are a
favorite hang out for locals. It is also used for staging major public
events. The Ayala Museum used to be the home of Father Jose Burgos but
now houses Ilocano artifacts, weapons, kitchen utensils, basketry,
costumes, jewellry and Burgos Memorabilia. There are also some
dioramas showing important events in the history of Ilocos Sur, and a
mini library. Beside the museum is the Ilocos Sur Provincial Jail,
where the Philippines first Ilocano president, the late President
Elpidio Quirino, was born.
