Laoag/Vigan

LAOAG佬沃
        Laoag is the capital of Ilocos Norte.   Flourishing along the banks of the Laoag River, the city is located 488 kilometers north of Manila, on the west central part of the province..  Laoag is the gateway to many interesting places in the Ilocos Province and is the seat of government, business, commerce, education and politics.  Being the capital of the region, Laoag has an impressive assortment of architecture of different eras.  The name of the city is derived from the Ilocano term “laoag”,  meaning “light”or “brightness” in the Ilocano dialect. 

TOURIST ATTRACTIONS (Laoag and Ilocos Norte) : 旅游景点（佬沃和北伊洛哥）

1. St. Williams Cathedral  -    the Augustinian Friars built the church in 1612 in the Italian Renaissance design style .  The church, which houses the image of the patron saint of Laoag City, St. William the Hermit, has a unique 2-storey façade held by four pairs of columns.  It is said to be the first religious structure and one of the biggest churches that the Spaniards built in Ilocos Norte.   

2. The Sinking Bell Tower   -    the Bantay Bell Tower,  located across St. William’s Cathedral , is reputed to be the tallest and most solid church bell tower built by the Spaniards in the country.  Now referred to as the Sinking Bell Tower, this 45-meter high bell tower has been said to be sinking because the street level around it has been raised so many times since the 18th century.  In the olden days, men used to ride on horseback into the main entrance , whereas, today visitors have to stoop to enter the tower.  The 18th century Spanish friars in the Philippines usually built the bell tower at a distance from the church for fear that the tower would crush into the church during strong earthquakes.  The Bantay Bell Tower is an example of this. 

3. Tobacco Monopoly Monument  -   the Tobacco Monopoly Monument was erected in 1881, as symbol of the gratitude of the people of the Ilocos Province to King Alfonso III of Spain for abolishing the tobacco monopoly law in 1880.  The monopoly of growing and selling of tobacco was removed from the hands of the Spanish government in the Ilocos and moved into free enterprise and free trade, allowing the local Ilocano farmers to buy and sell the crop that they cultivated.  Tobacco was one of the main crops traded by the Spanish galleon ships that sailed between the Philippines and Spain. 

4. Malacanang of the North   -   located in the town of Paoay, Malacanang of the North was built as the official residence of former Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos in Ilocos Norte.  Overlooking the legendary Paoay Lake，the complex includes a golf course.  This residence is now a museum and visitors can visit it for an entrance fee of Pesos P20. 

5. Cape Bojeador Lighthouse  -   located in the town of Burgos, 45 kilometers north of Laoag City,  this 120-feet high lighthouse was first lighted on 31 March 1892 to guide the ships passing through the South China Sea.  Built on a limestone promontory, the lighthouse is still operational today and, from the complex, visitors get a 360-degree panoramic view of the countryside and the sea.

6. Paoay Church   -    a UNESCO World Heritage site, the San Agustin Church of Paoay marks the center of the town of Paoay.  Built of coral blocks and stucco plastered bricks, the architecture is a unique combination of Gothic, Baroque and Oriental designs.  Construction of the church was started in 1604 and finally completed in 1710.  The pagoda-like coral stone belltower was finished in the second half of the 18th century.   This church is a good example of “earthquake Baroque” design, where the primary consideration is to design the structure for earthquake protection.   A phalanx of fourteen S-shaped buttresses jut out perpendicularly from the side walls to strengthen the walls against earthquake damage.

7. Gameng : Museo Ilocos Norte  -   housed in a former tobacco warehouse, the museum has an excellent collection of Ilocano, Igorot and itneg artifacts. It showcases the cultural heritage of the region.  Located in Laoag City, it is openfrom Tuesday to Saturday and requires an entrance fee of P15. per person.

8. Marcos Museum and Mausoleum  -   the ancestral house of the Marcos clan now houses memorabilia of the late President Ferdinand Marcos.  The mausoleum houses the remains of the late President Marcos.

9. La Paz Sand Dunes  -    declared as a geological monument, the vast sand dune formation in the town of La Paz offers a fine vista of the South China Sea.   The La Paz Sand Dunes have been popular among adventure travel groups for a 4-wheel drive race experience. Those interested in experiencing a  4-wheel jeep ride or organizing a rally at the sand dunes could contact the PINAKBET group through Mr. Ramon Formantes at the Community Affairs Division, Office of the City Mayor of Laoag.   The PINAKBET (acronym for Province of Ilocos Norte Adventurers, Kampers, Bikers for Eco-Tourism) group is a non-profit hobbyist group that specializes in eco-adventure sports activities.

10. House of National Artist, Juan Luna   -  located in the town of Badoc, the ancestral house of the famous painter and national artist Juan Luna was restored and is now a museum housing memorabilia of the Luna clan as well as paintings, including a reproduction of his masterpiece “Spoliarium”.  Juan Luna won a gold medal at the National Exposition of Fine Arts in Madrid in May 1884 for “Spoliarium”.  This Filipino painter studied in Europe and was quite well-known in the art circles of Paris, Madrid, Barcelona and Munich in the 19th century.

11. Beaches of  Ilocos Norte (Currimao, Pagudpud, La Paz)    -    the long coastline of the Ilocos Norte region facing the South China Sea, has blessed the area with a choice of beautiful white sand beaches and magnificent views.  Most of these places however are undeveloped and only have a few simple shades or trees on the beach..  Several places though have resorts of international standards to accommodate visitors, like Currimao , Pagudpud (Saud), La Paz and Calabyab (Fort Ilocandia Resort) . 

VIGAN 维干
         Vigan, the capital of the province of Ilocos Sur is the only surviving Philippine town with a Spanish-Mexican ambience.  With more than 180 preserved historic edifices , Vigan was inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage List, because the city “represents a unique fusion of Asian design and construction with European colonial architecture and planning” and is “an exceptionally intact and well-preserved example of a European-influenced trading town in Southeast Asia”. At the height of the Spanish colonial era in the 18th and 19th centuries, Vigan was the third most important city in the Philippines after Manila and Cebu.  Founded by the Spanish conquistador Juan de Salcedo, Vigan was an important maritime trading center in the 18th century for Chinese, Mexican and Spanish ships due to its location on the banks of the Mestizo River.  Trading ships plying the South China Sea easily sailed upriver to Vigan.  Under the Spanish friars, Vigan became “the piece of Spain” in the orient that Salcedo envisioned it to be.  The city’s historic trade connections with China, Mexico and Spain have left a legacy of influences evident in Vigan’s architecture, culture, cuisine, and lifestyle.  A trip to Vigan is a like a journey into the past.

TOURIST ATTRACTIONS: 旅游景点：
 1.  The Mestizo District  -   the houses in the Mestizo District in Vigan are typical bahay na bato (house of stone) ancestral houses with old-style Spanish tile roofs, massive hardwood floorings, balustrades and terraces in a fusion of Spanish-Mexican-Chinese architectural styles. This colonial bahay-na-bato has been synonymous with what is now known as the “Vigan house” in Philippine architecture and construction.  Calle Crisologo in the Mestizo District is a street with the highest concentration of bahay-na-bato on both sides of a cobbled street.  Calle Crisologo today is also an excellent place to shop for souvenir items.  The Mestizo District derives it name from the affluent families of mixed Ilocano-Chinese descent who lived there, rather than from mixed Filipino-Spanish families that today’s Filipinos exclusively associate with the term “mestizo”, meaning “mixed”.

2. Plaza Salcedo  –  the center of any Spanish town was always the town plaza (town square) and in the case of Vigan, it is Plaza Salcedo.  This plaza was named after Juan de Salcedo, who made Vigan his capital after he was appointed lieutenant governor of the Ilocos Region. The Salcedo Monument at Plaza Salcedo in Vigan is known to be the oldest monument in the North.  In Spanish colonial town planning, the church always faced the government center (or municipio), and on either side were the residences of government and church officials and the homes of the wealthy.  This same pattern is seen from Plaza Salcedo in Vigan, where the St. Paul’s Cathedral faces the Provincial Capital and Municipal Hall, while the Archbishop’s Place is on one side of the street flanking the Cathedral.

3.  Saint Paul’s Cathedral  -  a good example of church architecture fused with Filipino, Chinese, and Spanish design.   Its bell tower is pagoda-shaped and built a distance away from the church for earthquake protection.   The shape of the low, triangular façade copies the shape of the mountains in the background.  The church is the setting of many religious festivities attended by devotees from outside the province.

4.  The Archbishop’s Palace   -    flanking the long side of Plaza Salcedo, the Archbishop’s Palace is an excellent example of a priest’s residence in an urban area that combines parish offices on the ground floor (now partly a museum) and living quarters for the priests above.The only surviving 18th century Archbishop’s Palace in the country,  this place also served as temporary headquarters of the Philippine revolutionary forces in 1889.  The museum on the ground floor, Museo Nueva Segovia, houses a collection of priceless ecclesiastical artifacts and archives.  Visits can be arranged from Monday to Friday.

5. Burgos Museum    -   the residence of the Burgos family in Vigan houses the memorabilia of Ilocano-martyr priest, Father Jose Burgos, as well as Ilocano artifacts and ethnic arts of the Tinggian tribe.  The museum is furnished as a typical house of the period would have been and also has a display on the achievements of Vigan.

6. Syquia Mansion  -    probably the largest house in Vigan, it was the residence of the Syquia family, whose  wealth grew from agriculture and trading.  It is now open as a museum to honor an illustrious son-in-law, Elpidio Quirino, who rose from humble beginnings in Vigan to become the fifth President of the Philippines.