Museo San Agustin Intramuros: Tale Of The Oldest Stone Church In The Philippines

It's not fool to say that April month is on its way! Aren't you excited? One more week to go and we need to turn another calendar page. What are you looking forward to? Yey! The long wait is almost over and I can feel the summer here in the Philippines. Without a doubt, one of the things you have on your list this April is "grand vacation". For students, definitely a much longer hours of sleep since officially most are already on school break this time. For catholics, let's not forget that Holy Week falls on April this year. Are you ready for the Visita Iglesia(church visit)? Well, you're maybe still on the process of searching for your seven churches and if I'm correct you might wanna consider San Agustin Church especially if your route is just within Manila City. Aside from Casa Manila, this is also a must-see place in the Walled City, Intramuros. It was last year when I visited this church for the holy week also and that was the only time I had a chance to go inside. I thought before that you couldn't go inside if you're not rich or a wedding attendee. But no, in fact I got chance to know more the beautiful tale of this church again this year. Come and join me!

Welcome to San Agustin! This church is just a few minutes walk from Casa Manila. I can say that these two places are always the word-of-mouth from most wedding planners. If you want to win the best wedding of the year usually these are the top choices for reception and church. But, if you want to be trapped in the past for like a day, this can be a time warp too. "Tale as old as time, beauty and the beast". Oops! Sorry, I just realized that the Disney movie that is still showing in the cinema today is relative to the picture of San Agustin church above. Oh! Why? Is there a beast inside? Definitely no, but many said that the facade of the church is not really attractive. On the contrary, an impressive interiors will awe you when you get inside, that's the beautiful part. From the breathtaking main altar to the illusive 3D paintings on the ceiling. This church is a perfect example of "don't judge the book by its cover". Although I haven't been to Rome, Italy and Vatican City yet I find this church a local version of the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica if you will base it on the pictures online.

Convento de San Pablo or San Agustin Church is a Roman Catholic church under the auspices of the order of St. Augustine. It is considered the oldest stone church in the country. Did you know that the present structure is actually just the third Augustinian church erected on the site? The first was completed in 1571, made of bamboo and nipa. It is also the first religious structure constructed by the Spaniards on the island of Luzon. The second was built when the first was destroyed by fire, it is also made of wood and unfortunately it didn't last because of the fire too. The construction of the present church started in 1587 when Augustinians decided to rebuild it using adobe stones and construct an adjacent monastery. It became operational in 1604 and the church was finally declared on January 19, 1607 with a name St. Paul of Manila.

The church survived several natural and man-made disasters from earthquakes, calamities to invasions. A lone survivor of World War II in the walled city.

On December 11, 1993, it was declared UNESCO World Heritage Site under the collective title Baroque Churches of the Philippines and also named as National Historical Landmark by the Philippine Government in 1976. 

St. Augustin church was patterned after some of the magnificent churches built by the Augustinians in Mexico. It is also one of the proofs of splendid Spanish era and the strong influence of Catholic Church during the colonial years. During Japanese Occupation of World War II, the adjacent monastery was completely destroyed but rebuilt in 1970s as a museum. I tried to visit here last year and thankfully I got the way to do it last week. The entrance fee is 200 pesos or roughly 4 US Dollars. The operating hours are 8am-12am and 1pm-6pm daily. The entrance to the museum is on the right side of the church.

The first stop of your visit is the Sala Recibidor, it was a classroom before where the Filipinos were taught music, art, writing, reading and catechism. Here was the formal school of the Philippines and since 1970, it has been part of the San Agustin museum, showcasing different collections through the years like this replica above of Nuestra Señora Del Pilar Galleon. The Spanish era started by the expedition of Magellan when he and his men arrived in the Philippines in March 1521. While in Cebu, Magellan gave an image of Santo Niño as a gift to the Queen Juana after her baptism as a substitute to her idols. Sadly, Magellan was killed by Lapu-Lapu. It didn't stop courting the beautiful Philippines but  several expeditions went on after. It is said that the main motives of the explorers during the Age of Exploration were the 3Gs: God, Gold, and Glory. Because of that the Catholic religion was born in the country.

Treasures of the past.

The Augustinian Friars were sent to the Philippine islands as a messengers of the main commandment of Jesus: "Love one another as I had loved you"

The hallways of the museum will surely give you peace of mind and soul. It also reminds me of Hogwarts School in Harry Potter series.

The Door of Faith. I can say that this is the best room to see in San Agustin museum and convinced me to say that so far this is "the most beautiful museum" I've ever seen in the country. Why? It's not because I'm also catholic, without any bias I really felt I was out of the country, somewhere in Europe. It allows you to walk back in time and see the history of Catholicism. 

Do you think these breads are edible? The Last Supper

Mexican Crucifixes. The unique thing about this images is they are all made of corn stalk paste called "j'atzingheni" in Mexico. They are extremely light because of their composition and a human-size figure could only weigh 7 kilos.

Sala "De Profundis". It was my first time to see a columbarium inside a monastery. This is the area where you can see storage of cinenary urns of the members of the Augustine community who passed away. Even the remains of Juan Luna, a prominent Filipino painter and the first Philippine artist.

Retablo of Juan De Los Santos. It was the main altar of San Agustin church which was executed in 1617 by the carver, Juan De Los Santos. It was replaced later on because of its Ionic-Corinthian style and no longer conformed with the baroque style renovations in the church. Sadly, the original wood gilded image of "santos"(saints) that filled the niches were stolen by the british invaders in 1762 and by the north american soldiers in 1898.

Wash Basin or "Lavamanos". It was usually found in the sacristy for the celebrant priests to wash their hands before vesting the liturgical vestments for the mass. It is said that this is "the best lavabo that existed in all the sacristies of the Philippines" in the old times.

Originally San Agustin Church and Convent had an extraordinary collection of ivories but British invaders looted 50 ivory images during the war. Augustinian Friars also promoted the creation of beautiful works of art, among them the so called "Filipino-Spanish Ivories". The original artists who made these were the sangleyes or the Chinese living in the islands.

Old vestments. The form of garment worn at baptism.

Outside the hallways of monastery is a perfect place to relax your mind and spirit.

Way to the first floor.

Sala San Pablo. It's a special living room where you can see different paintings from Mexico, Spain and Japan. Paintings played a big role for the evangelization and also to embellish the churches and the convents. San Agustin church also had an extraordinary collection of paintings but sadly most of them were also looted and destroyed during invasions.

In the Augustinian order, some friars like Fr. Manuel Blanco dedicated their time to different sciences from cosmology, astrology, biology and botany. They did most of the important studies in the Flora of the Philippines. Let me not forget Fr. Gregor Mendel, considered as the "Father of Modern Genetics".

Botika or San Agustin Pharmacy. These were old containers of drugs and medicines made of terracota used by the Friars living in the convent. Sadly, British invaders destroyed most of these during the Battle of Manila.

This area is where you can see the collection of porcelain from the Chinese-Philippine trading.

Our Lady of Guadalupe from Mexico. It is said that in 1601, Augustinians built a church in Manila devoted to the miraculous image venerated in Spain with a title of Guadalupe. Later on, it was changed with an oil painting on canvas.

Garden of Father Blanco. He was also a Botanist and because of his admiration to nature's beauty he even wrote a book Flora de Filipinas, which was published in 1883.

Lenten season has just started and going to San Agustin museum helps us know our religion more. It is good to know that more Filipino Catholics visit different places in the Philippines. Everyday I see people post crystal clear beaches, amazing mountains and unique places on social media but sadly it's seldom to see someone posting about church or museum. Since Holy Week is about to come, maybe this is the perfect time to visit these precious and historical churches like the Manila Cathedral and San Agustin, both are in Intramuros. For sure your one whole day will not be wasted. The information here came from San Agustin museum and with the help of online encyclopedia, Wikipedia. It's nice to see you here on my blog! Please don't forget to like my facebook page and instagram. Kindly search Supermarkymacky.