The Philippines is a country that has a proud and rich religious heritage that is very much intertwined with the local culture. Travellers heading to the country’s capital, Manila, will find several religious attractions and monuments that bare testament to this heritage. Known as the ‘Walled City’, Intramuros is the city’s oldest district and is where one will find one of the country’s most important religious landmarks, the Manila Cathedral.
This awe-inspiring cathedral has its roots in the original Church of Manila which dates back to the 16th century. Constructed in 1581, the first Cathedral of Manila was built at this site under Fray Bishop Domingo de Salazar and was made utilizing such materials as bamboo and nipa. However, this structure was decimated by a fire in 1583 and since then there have been several cathedrals built on this site through the ages.
The current Manila Cathedral was built out of the ruins from the previous cathedral that was destroyed in 1945 during the Battle of Liberation. This new place of worship was designed by architect Fernando Ocampo and incorporated Neo-Romanesque exterior designs along with a blend of renaissance, revival and modernistic styles.
Also known as the Manila Metropolitan Cathedral, the present day structure was consecrated in 1958 and spans an area of around 3,000 square metres. One of the features of this hallowed building is the use of marble which can be seen in such areas as the chapels, the main altar and the Episcopal throne. While one will find a two-metre statue of the Immaculate Conception at the main altar, there are several statues made from Roman travertine stone as well as a variety of bronze carvings on the outside.
Decreed as the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in 1981 by Pope John Paul II, this cathedral has a variety of other design features worth viewing. Apart from the 134 ornately made stained glass windows, other points of interest within the building include several chapels in the right and left naves, the baptistery, various stone art pieces and the magnificent half-orange dome with its stained glass windows.
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