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World Hertitage Sites 2009

WORLD HERITAGE SITES OF THE PHILIPPINES

SAN AGUSTIN CHURCH in PAOAY NORTE

One of the four churches listed under the “Baroque Churches of the Philippines” inscription in the World Heritage List of 1993. This church is one of the most outstanding variants of “earthquake Baroque” in the Philippines, where the primary consideration was to design the structure of earthquake protection.

HISTORIC TOWN OF VIGAN

Established in the 16th century, the town of Vigan in Ilocos Sur is the best preserved example of a planned Spanish colonial town in Asia. Is architecture reflects the coming together of cultural elements from the Philippines, China and Europe, resulting in culture and townscape that has no parallel anywhere in Asia. Inscribed in the World Heritage List in 1999.
RICE TERRECES OF THE PHILIPPINE CORDILLERAS
For 2000 years, the high rice fields of Ifugao have followed the contours of the mountains. The fruits of knowledge handed down from one generation to the next, and the expression of sacred traditions and a delicate social balance, have helped to create landscape of great beauty that expresses the harmony between humankind and the environment. Inscribed in the World Heritage Listed in 1995.

NUESTRA SENORA DE LA ASUNCION CHURCH in SANTA MARIA, ILOCOS SUR

One of the four churches listed under the “Baroque Churches of the Philippines” inscription in the World Heritage List of 1993. This church was among the most successful Augustinian Christianization missions in the Philippines.

SAN AGUSTIN CHURCH IN INTRAMUROS CHURCH, MANILA

One of the four churches listed under the “Baroque Churches of the Philippines” inscription in the World Heritage List of 1993. UNESCO has cited its significance as “the best preserved example of an urban ecclesiastical complex in the Philippines, this ensemble serves not only as a historical document of the Spanish colonial heritage but as a respiratory of the most important works of art and literature of the period...”

PUERTO PRINCESA SUBTERRANEAN RIVER NATIONAL PARK

This park features a spectacular limestone karst landscape with an underground river. One of the rivers distinguishing features is that it emerges directly into the sea, and its lower portion is subject to tidal influences. The area also represents a significant of biodiversity conversation. The site contains a full ‘mountain-to-sea’ ecosystem and has some of the most important forest in Asia. Inscribed in the World Heritage Listed in 1999.

TUBBATAHA REEF NATIONAL MARINE PARK

The marine park includes a north and south reef which are unique examples of atoll reefs with a high density of marine species. He north islet serves as a nesting site of birds and marine turtles. The site is an excellent example of pristine coral reef with a spectacular 100-meter perpendicular wall, extensive lagoons and two coral islands. Inscribed in the World Heritage List in 1993.

SANTO TOMAS DE VILANUEVA CHURCH in MIAG-AO, ILOILO

One of the four churches listed under the “Baroque Churches of the Philippines” inscription in the World Heritage List of 1993. This church is an outstanding example of the interpretation of a Western architectural style.

RICE TERRECES OF THE PHILIPPINE CORDILLERAS, IFUGAO PROVINCE
Among the world heritage sites in the Philippines, the Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras have such a powerful presence that makes them one of the most outstanding places in the country. Lying high in the Cordillera mountain range, their setting cannot be replicated anywhere in the lowland tropical landscape of the Philippines – or even anywhere in the world, for that matter.
High in the remote areas of the Philippine Cordillera mountain range, scholars believe, slopes have been terraced and planted with rice as far back as 2000 years. Mountains terraced into paddies that sill survive in varying states of conversation are spread over most of the 20,000-square-kilometer land area (7 percent of the land mass of the Philippine Archipelago) thatis in the Northern Luzon provinces of Kalinga-Apayao, Abra, Benguet, and Ifugao. The improbable site is found at attitudes varying from 700 to 1,500 meters above sea level, where terraces are sliced into mountain slopes with contours that rise steeply.

Existence in the Cordillera unites man with nature, and the unparalleled view shows how man has shaped the landscape to allow him to grow rice. The sheer majesty of the terraces communicates uniqueness and strength. Besides wind and rustling leaves, there is also the constant sound of water flowing downhill on the canals that irrigate the terraces. And there is nobleness in culture and environment express by the timeless tranquillity of the terraces. Most of Filipinos regard the terraces as their national symbol.

TUBBATAHA REEF NATIONAL MARINE PARK,SOUTH SULU SEA, PALAWAN

The country’s first inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1993 was the Tubbataha Reef National Marine Park in Palawan, a distinction so appropriate for an island nation that traditionally looks toward the sea as a life-giving force, the traditional center of people’s lives.

UNESCO recognized the site primarily for its importance to regional diversity, an outstanding distinction for the marine diversity known to exist in the Philippines. The UNESCO World Heritage Committee cited Tubbataha Reef as one of the most outstanding coral reefs in Southeast Asia, nothing that in the 33,200 hectares of the Tubbataha Reef National Marine Park lies an atoll reef with a very high density of marine species, a phenomenon unique in the world and a site of irreplaceable universal value.

“Tubbataha” derives from two samal words meaning “a long reef exposed only at low tide.” Tubbataha reef, the only national marine park in the Philippines, is an underwater site consisting of two coral atolls with a 100-meter perpendicular wall covering an area of 10,000 hectares situated at the center of the Sulu Sea, about 150 kilometers southeast of Puerto Princesa City, and located in Cagayancillo. The reef harbors a diversity of marine life greater than any other similar area in the world. The underwater abundance at Tubbataha is staggering. Marine biologist believe that surpasses reefs of the same size in any other part of the world.

PUERTO PRINCESA SUBTERRANEAN RIVER NATIONAL PARK, PALAWAN

Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park lies in the Saint Paul Mountain Range, 81 kilometers from the center of Puerto Princesa City, but is still within the city boundaries. The Park is a natural wonder. Its geologic features are unique and the Subterranean River is said to be among the longest in the world measuring up to 8.2-kilometers.

Puerto Princesa Subterranean River is one of the few in the world that flow out into the sea from an inland source. It has been the focus of much curiosity and scientific investigation. The level of fresh water river rises and falls with the tide up to a point f 4.3 kilometers.

Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park consist of various landforms. The most impressive are the mountainous lime stones plateaus, geologically called karsts, that form the rugged landscaped of the Saint Paul Mountain Range with elevations ranging from sea level to a maximum height of 1,028 meters. The topography of the property varies from flat plains to rolling hinterlands and hills to mountain peaks.

The extensive rainforest of the Park is the habitat of diverse endemic and endangered species of flora and fauna, the mouse deer, calamian deer, Palawan bearcat, porcupines, skunks, wild pigs, flying squirrels, rats, bats, and monkeys are among the animals that inhabit the Park. Cave-inhabiting forms of reptiles, birds, and mammals dominate the animals. All this are endemic of Palawan: they exist nowhere else on earth.

HISTORIC TOWN OF VIGAN, ILOCOS SUR

During the height of the Spanish colonial era in the 18th and 19th centuries, Vigan or Ciudad Fernandina de Vigan was the third most important city after Manila and Cebu. It was the center of Spanish colonial power in northern Luzon.

The range of structures along the story of the town. Large and imposing buildings evoke political and religious power. Grand homes speak of wealth, while others speak of more modest means. The architectural ensemble shows that Vigan was the political, economic, religious, and artistic center of the region. The town is a living testament to the Spanish colonial era, a place that exerts a strong cultural influence to the modern Philippine nation.

More importantly, the architecture of Vigan relates he story of Filipino, of how this constant exposure to foreign influences endowed him with the ability to adapt foreign ideas and combine them into a style that is uniquely his own. Vigan survives as a unique representation of the adaption process that the multi-cultural Filipino is so good at.

Notable Vigan urban spaces and architecture includes its town plaza, Plaza Salcedo; Saint Paul’s Cathedral; The Arzopispado, an excellent example of a priest’s residence in an urban area; Saint Paul’s College; the Provincial Capitol Building; Simbaan a Bassit (Catholic Cemetery Chapel); Calle Crisologo, an impressive rown of houses lining each side of a cobbled stone street; Burgos Museum; and the numerous Vigan Houses, undoubtably Vigan’s treasures.

NUESTRA SENORA DE LA ASUNCION CHURCH IN STA. MARIA, ILOCOS SUR

Not following fully the traditional Spanish urban town plan of situating the church as the focus of the central town plaza, the location of Nuestra Senora de la Asuncion church and convent in Sta. Maria, Ilocos Sur standing alone on the crown of a freestanding hill encircled by a stone retaining wall gives it a citadel appearance. Its appearance evokes a Mediterranean hill town, the only example of such in the Philippines.

Evoking a Chinese pagoda, the squate and massive bell tower of attacked octagonal shapes of decreasing diameter is crowned by small dome. From any angle, the approach to the Santa Maria ensemble is magnificent. A stairway of 85 stone steps rises from the town to the small courtyard at the top of citadel. On the opposite side of the courtyard, another equally grand stairway descends to a causeway built up over rice fields leading to a circular cemetery.

Built of brick, the church has a monumental facade. The thick side walls are without ornamentation, but have delicately curved side entrances which are bolstered regularly by huge quadrangular buttresses, these are necessary structural reinforcements for earthquake protection. The power and simplicity of its geometric forms, and its location, make this an outstanding example of Peripheral Baroque architecture.

SAN AGUSTIN CHURCH IN PAOAY, ILOCOS NORTE

The San Agustin Church in Paoay began its construction in 1604 and finally completed in 1970. This is one of the most outstanding “earthquake baroque” structure in the Philippines were the primary concern was to design the church for earthquake protection.

The coral stone bell tower, standing at some distance from the church for earthquake protection, was finished in the second half of the 18th century. Philippine bell towers were constructed at a distance from the main church structure to avoid its falling on the church during earthquakes.

The most outstanding feature of the church is the phalanx of buttresses that just out perpendicularly from the sides to strengthen the walls against the earthquake damage. It has the most massive buttressing in any church in the Philippines. Fourteen S-shaped buttresses rise in rhythmic cadence from the ground reaching almost to the roof line. A pyramidal finial triumphantly tops each buttress. The visual impact of the San Agustin church in Paoay is unforgettable.

SAN AGUSTIN CHURCH IN INTRAMUROS

The San Agustin church is located in Nostalgic Intramuros, Manila. During the 350 years of Spanish rule, Intramuros was the nerve center of the country. Even if Intramuros today is a ghost of what is originally was, the aura of Spain still lingers in its ins.

The interior of the San Agustin church is superb. Traces of the original wall painting done in the Mexican style can still be seen. The existing trompe l’oeil interior painting was done in the late 19th century that influenced the interior painting of many Philippine churches. The structural design of the church is extra ordinary. It is said that the structure is supported by a raft type foundation that permits the entire structure to sway during earthquakes. San Agustin church also boasts of the only examples in the country of barrel vault, dome and arched vestibules supporting its choir loft, al made of stone.

A monastery complex was once linked to the church by a series o cloisters, arcades, courtyards and gardens. Today the monastery and church are the respiratory of what are considered to be the most priceless Philippine collection of religious art, including the earliest dated retablo, wall paintings, pulpit, choir lectern, choir stalls and an important archive of books.

SANTO TOMAS de VILLANUEVA CHURCH IN MIAG-AO, ILOILO

Built of local yellow-orange sandstone, the large fortress church was completed in 1797. The church withstood typhoons and earthquakes, but it burned twice: first was during the revolution against Spain in 1898 and the second was during the Philippine-American War a few years later.

The church of Santo Tomas de Villanueva in Miag-ao is among the best examples in the Philippines of the fortress baroque” style. The church stands on the highest elevation of the town. The squatness of the church, the massive pair of bell towers and the angled buttresses strengthen its fortress image.

The facade of the church is a Filipino masterpiece. Unknown master carvers incised its entire surface in high relief. The sumptuous carving on the facade is probably the pinnacle of Filipino naïf where local craftsmen abandon all restraint to reinterpret western decorative styles in the local folk indiom. The church of Santo Tomas de Villanueva is one of the best examples of the fusion of the best examples of the fusion of the western Baroque style embellished with Filipino folk motifs.

For additional information,please visit the following sites:


www.ncca.gov.ph
www.wowphilippines.com.ph
www.visitmyphilippines.com

For tours, please contact:

PHILIPPINE TOUR OPERATORS ASSOCIATION (PHILTOA)
Unit 1806 18/F Citiland 10 Tower 1
HV dela Costa St.,
Salcedo Village, Makati City
Tel.: (632) 8124513
Fax: (632) 8174608
Email: [email protected]

PHILIPPINE TRAVEL AGENCIES ASSOCIATION (PTAA)
12-1 G EGI-Rufino Plaza, Taft cor.
Sen Gil Puyat Aves., Pasay City
Tel.: (632) 5520026 to 29
Fax: (632) 5520030
Email: [email protected]

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF INDEPENDENT TRAVEL AGENCIES SOCIETY (NAITAS)
2/FRoom 201, KIMVI Building,
1191 Orosa St., Ermita Manila
Tel.: (623) 5244768 / 5238375
Fax: (632) 5213335

 
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