400 Year Old San Agustine Church Intramuros Manila

Yes this is another post nothing to do with food but i just had to write about old churches. I'm not a Sunday church going nor a pious person, but I love going to churches. Odd may it sound but a contradicting statement isn't it.

I love going to churches for 2 reasons, first reason for this, churches or a church reminds of the never ending saga battles between powers, its the birth place for conceptualized stories of conflict. The second reason is, churches are full of culture and history, they are actually time capsules of the past which are in plain sight.

This is San Agustin Church, built between 1587 and 1606, is the oldest church in the Philippines, and the only building left intact after the destruction of Intramuros during the Battle of Manila (1945).

The San Agustín Church lies inside the walled city of Intramuros located in the capital city Manila, Philippines. It is the first European stone church to be built in the Philippines designed in Spanish architectural structure. The church also houses the legacies of the Spanish conquistadors, Miguel López de Legazpi, Juan de Salcedo and Martín de Goiti who are buried and laid to rest in a tomb, underneath the church.

The church has 14 side chapels and a trompe-l'oeil ceiling. Up in the choir loft, note the hand-carved 17th-century seats of molave, a beautiful tropical hardwood. Adjacent to the church is a small museum run by the Augustinian order, featuring antique vestments, colonial furniture, and religious paintings and icons. COST: Admission to museum. OPEN: Church daily 7-7:30 AM and 5-6 PM; museum daily 9-noon and 1-5.