airwindzone: Tuguegarao City: the hottest place but a religious site in the Philippines

Tuguegarao City: the hottest place but a religious site in the Philippines

Tuguegarao City, Cagayan, it is famous for being the hottest place in the Philippines but when you visit the place, you will discover that it is also one of the most religious with the presence of the big churches where people can go to worship.

As a participant of the event of National Commission for the Culture and the Arts and the Philippine Information Agency, the Eco-cultural Heritage Caravan Seminar with Onsite Immersion NCCA-PIA Culture & Arts Promotion in Luzon April 25-30, 2017. I was able to visit 3 churches of Tuguegarao City.

St. Peter Cathedral The Saint Peter Metropolitan Cathedral, tagged as the Tuguegarao Cathedral, is located along Rizal Street, Centro 10, Tuguegarao City, Cagayan, Philippines. It is an 18th century Baroque church, was originally built by Dominican friars, is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tuguegarao, and considered as one of the largest churches in the Cagayan Valley. A historical marker of the history of the church was installed in 1982 by the National Historical Institute.

It was founded as a mission on May 9, 1604 by Dominican friars. Father Tomas Villa was assigned as its first vicar. Father Villa erected a temporary parochial structure made of light materials with Saint Peter and Saint Paul as patron saints. The current church is attributed to Father Antonio Lobato, OP who initiated the construction in 1761 and was completed in 1768.The reason why it is called "Cathedral" is because of the chair of the Archbishop. The church sustained heavy damage during World War II and was subsequently rebuilt by Monsignor Bishop Constance Jurgens. The cathedral’s façade is described as whimsical and playful. Most notable of all its features is the broken and crested pediment that is mirrored in other churches in the Cagayan Valley namely, the churches of Dupax del Sur and Bambang and Saint Dominic’s Cathedral in Nueva Vizcaya. Archival photos of the Calasiao Church in Pangasinan also showed that it once had the “Cagayan-style” pediment. Other notable architectural features of the church are consistently repeated on many of its parts and on the Ermita de San Jacinto, a Spanish-era brick chapel located on the opposite site of the Tuguegarao city proper.

The cathedral have a wide yard where images of saints are displayed and the gym on the side of the cathedral is used for their activities. The cathedral is now a fusion of old and modern architecture but still stand as a testament of faith of the people of Tugegarao.

Ermita De San Jacinto St. Hyacinth Church (San Jacinto Church) or the Ermita de Piedra de San Jacinto (Stone Chapel of San Jacinto) is an elevated historic chapel established in 1604, 100 years older than the St. Peter and Paul Cathedral. American soldiers during the Philippine-American War used it as headquarters in 1899. St. Hyacinth is the patron Saint of the city whose feast is celebrated every August 15 coinciding with the Pav-vurulun Festival.

The oldest brick structure in the city is the first parochial building built by the Dominican fathers in Tuguegarao. The current structure is the latest in a process of rebuilding beginning in 1724, in 1892 after it was destroyed by an earthquake and reconstruction after the World War II. The chapel was not heavily damaged during the war and as a result retains its original wooden retablo which dates back to the 18th century.

The elevated church is quite a great idea since it may be a small church but the architecture is quite a great one since it looks huge than its actual size.

Our Lady of Chartres Chapel The Our Lady of the Chartres Chapel (OLCC) is the University Chapel of St. Paul University Philippines. It is a replica of the Cathedral of the Diocese Chartres in France. It can be found just across the Ermita de Piedra de San Jacinto.

It was built through the initiative of Sr. Remy Angela Junio, SPC, the then University President. It was consecrated on February 2, 2011 by Msgr. Diosdado Talamayan, DD, the Archbishop Emiritus of Tuguegarao.

The relic of the St. Teresa de Avila was enthroned by Msgr. Giuseppe Pinto, DD, the Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines on December 8, 2011. Located at the heart of the SPUP campus, the OLCC is considered one of the finest models of architectural ingenuity. It stands as the open arms of Christ welcoming and blessing all those who enter the University. Unveiled on February 11, 2013, the National Historical Marker, bestowed by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines, is a recognition of the significant contributions of SPUP in the fields of education and service to the province, the region and the country.

The three churches in Tuguegarao show how much people still embrace their faith and use it as their shield to be strong amidst the challenges of life.

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