I know in my last post about Ilocos Norte, I've mentioned that I've exhausted all destinations we've visited. Well, my bad because I missed out one spot in Paoay, Ilocos Norte. Paoay is a 4th class municipality in Ilocos Norte home to rich culture and heritage.
If you'll allow me to, I'll take you today to one of Paoay's prides, the Saint Augustine Church or commonly called by locals as Paoay Church. It is a Roman Catholic Church that had witnessed a lot of events in the past. After two decades of construction, in 1710 the church had been completed. In 1973, Paoay Church had been declared one of the National Treasures of the country [1]. Twenty (20) years later, UNESCO declared it a World Heritage Site under the Baroque Churches of the Philippines category [2]. There are four (4) churches sharing the same award from UNESCO including one in Miag-ao in Iloilo. I've been to this church as well but I'm more amazed by Paoay Church.
What's very obvious when you see Paoay Church is its stunning pyramid-like structure and the huge and sturdy bell tower beside it. We managed to walk around and saw the massive buttresses on both sides of the church. Some articles online mention that there are even buttresses on the back portion of the church but I wasn't able to personally see them. Nonetheless, it's mesmerizing to see this kind of architecture.
It's not a secret that the Philippines had been under Spanish Colonialization for more or less 300 years; that's three decades of being exposed to the tradition and culture of the Spaniards. To date, many of our food, language, culture, and traditions are greatly influenced by the Spaniards; at certain moments, it's difficult to distinguish our culture before the Spaniards came. I can even count in Spanish without difficulty! That's just cool!馃槀