San Agustin Church (Manila)

San Agustin Church (Spanish: Iglesia de la Inmaculada

Concepcin de Mara de San Agustn) is a Roman Catholic
church under the auspices of The Order of St. Augustine,
located inside the historic walled city of Intramuros in
Manila.

Manila again on 1820 July 1880. This time, the tremors

left a huge crack on the left bell tower of the church[10]
The crack was eventually repaired, but the left tower was
permanently removed as it appears today.[11] The church
withstood the other major earthquakes that struck Manila
In 1993, San Agustin Church was one of four Philippine before in 1645, 1699, 1754, 1796, 1825 and 1852.
churches constructed during the Spanish colonial period On August 18, 1898, the church was the site where
to be designated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, Spanish Governor-General Fermin Jaudenes prepared the
under the collective title Baroque Churches of the Philip- terms for the surrender of Manila to the United States of
pines.[1] It was named a National Historical Landmark by America following the Spanish-American War.[3][8]
the Philippine government in 1976.[2]
During the Japanese occupation of the Philippines dur-

ing World War II, San Agustin Church was turned into a
concentration camp for prisoners.[3] In the nal days of
the Battle of Manila, hundreds of Intramuros residents
and clergy were held hostage in the church by Japanese
soldiers; many of the hostages would be killed during the
three-week-long battle.[3] The church itself survived the
attening of Intramuros by combined American and Filipino ground forces in May, 1945 with only its roof damaged, the only one of the seven churches in the walled
city to remain standing.[3] The adjacent monastery however was totally destroyed, and was later rebuilt in the
1970s as a museum under the design of architect Angel
Nakpil.[2][8] The church was renovated in 2013, replacing
its colorful facade with a mature stone-colored one.

History

The present structure is actually the third Augustinian

church erected on the site.[3] The rst San Agustin
Church was the rst religious structure constructed by the
Spaniards on the island of Luzon.[4] Made of bamboo and
nipa, it was completed in 1571, but destroyed by re in
December, 1574 during the attempted invasion of Manila
by the forces of Limahong.[5][6] A second church made of
wood was constructed on the site.[6] This was destroyed
in February 1583, in a re that started when a candle set
ablaze the drapes of the funeral bier during the interment
of the Spanish Governor-General Gonzalo Ronquillo de
Pealosa.[5]
The Augustinians decided to rebuild the church using
stone, and to construct an adjacent monastery. Construction began in 1586, based on a design by Juan
Macas.[4][6] The structure was built using hewn adobe
stones quarried from Meycauayan, Binangonan and San
Mateo, Rizal.[2] The work proceeded slowly due to the
lack of funds and materials, as well as the relative scarcity
of stone artisans.[6] The monastery was operational by
1604, and the church was formally declared complete on
January 19, 1607, and named St. Paul of Manila.[6]
Macas, who had died before the completion of the
church, was ocially acknowledged by the Augustinians
as the builder of the edice.[7]

2 Architecture
The San Agustin Church is patterned after some of the
magnicent temples built by the Augustinians in Mexico, its present edice was built in 1587, and completed,
together with the monastery, in 1604.The atmosphere is
medieval since both church and monastery symbolize
the majesty and equilibrium of a Spanish golden era.
The massive structure of the church, the symmetry and
splendor of the interiors (painted by two Italians who
succeeded in producing trompe l'oeil), the prole of the
mouldings, rosettes and sunken panels which appear as
three-dimensional carvings, a baroque pulpit with the native pineapple as a motif, the grand pipe organ, the antechoir with a 16th-century crucix, the choir seats carved
in molave with ivory inlays of the 17th century and the
set of 16 huge and beautiful chandeliers from Paris.[12]

San Agustin Church was looted by the British forces

which occupied Manila in 1762 during the Seven Years
War.[8] In 1854, the church was renovated under the supervision of architect Luciano Oliver.[4] Nine years later,
on June 3, 1863, the strongest earthquake at that time,
hit Manila leaving widespread destruction to the city with
San Agustin Church, the only public building left undamaged in the city.[9] A series of strong earthquakes struck
1

See also
Architecture of the Philippines
Spanish Baroque architecture
Miguel Lpez de Legazpi

References

Notes
[1] Baroque Churches of the Philippines. UNESCO World
Heritage Centre. Retrieved on 2012-01-20.
[2] Layug, p. 84
[3] Layug, p. 83
[4] Heritage Conservation Society. San Agustin Church (Intramuros, Manila)". Retrieved 2008-03-24.
[5] Torres, p. 62
[6] Aluit, p. 40
[7] Aluit, p. 41
[8] Torres, p. 63
[9] Fernandez, p. 216
[10] Hannaford, p. 21
[11] Laya and Gatbonton, p.102.
[12] de la Torre, Visitacion (1981). Landmarks of Manila:
1571-1930. Makati: Filipinas Foundation, Inc. pp. 63
64.

Bibliography
Layug, Benjamin Locsin (2007). A Tourist Guide
to Notable Philippine Churches. Pasig City, Philippines: New Day Publishers. pp. 3941. ISBN 9718521-10-0.
Aluit, Alfonso (1994). By Sword and Fire: The Destruction of Manila in World War II 3 February 3
March 1945. Philippines: National Commission for
Culture and the Arts. pp. 8385. ISBN 971-852110-0.
Torres, Jose Victor Z. (2005). Ciudad Murada: A
Walk Through Historic Intramuros. Manila: Intramuros Administration & Vibal Publishing House,
Inc. pp. 6263. ISBN 971-07-2276-X.
Hannaford, Adjutant E. (1899). History and of
our Philippine Wonderland. Springeld, Ohio: The
Crowell & Kirkpatrick Co. p. 21.

EXTERNAL LINKS

Fernandez, Leandro H. (1919). A Brief History of

the Philippines. Boston, Massachusetts: Ginn and
Company. p. 216.
Laya, Jaime and Gatbonton, Esperanza (1983). Intramuros of Memory. Manila: Ministry of Human
Settlements, Intramuros Administration. p. 102.

5 External links
World Heritage prole

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

6.1

Text

San Agustin Church (Manila) Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San%20Agustin%20Church%20(Manila)?oldid=651575417 Contributors: SimonP, Seav, Bearcat, Jondel, Adam78, Geni, Necrothesp, Robby dela vega, CanisRufus, Polylerus, Ghirlandajo, Ivanhenares,
Grammarbot, Vegaswikian, CalJW, JdforresterBot, Wavelength, NickBush24, Anime, Jaranda, Wikipedia@natividads.com, Titopao, OrphanBot, Howard the Duck, TastyPoutine, Neddyseagoon, Joseph Solis in Australia, Tentoila, Njamesdebien, Thijs!bot, Anyo Niminus,
Bobblehead, Tjmayerinsf, VoABot II, Jllm06, The Anomebot2, R'n'B, Kguirnela, Ericd001, Idioma-bot, Afernand74, TIY, Mild Bill Hiccup, Umbertod, Briarfallen, , San anjelo, Rainierong, Addbot, WikiEditor50, Luckas-bot, Yobot, Paolobon140, AnomieBOT,
Citation bot, FrescoBot, LucienBOT, Full-date unlinking bot, Slb nsk, EmausBot, Look2See1, DASHBotAV, ClueBot NG, Lastbridge,
Phlheritage, Helpful Pixie Bot, BG19bot, George Ponderevo, Rococo1700, Patrickroque01, Mediran, RioHondo, Miguel raul, Kuya kyon,
Mogism, Byralaal, PH 0447, Pi3.124, Fmgverzon, Carlojoseph14, Ramiltibayan, Soldier of the Empire and Anonymous: 50

6.2

Images

File:Allan_Jay_Quesada-_DSC_1354_Church_of_Santo_Tomas_de_Villanueva_or_Miag-ao_Church,_Ilo-ilo.JPG
Source:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/Allan_Jay_Quesada-_DSC_1354_Church_of_Santo_Tomas_de_Villanueva_or_
Miag-ao_Church%2C_Ilo-ilo.JPG License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Allan Jay Quesada
File:Coat_of_Arms_of_the_Archdiocese_of_Manila.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/43/Coat_of_
Arms_of_the_Archdiocese_of_Manila.svg License: CC BY-SA 2.5 Contributors: Own work Original artist: SajoR
File:Commons-logo.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg License: ? Contributors: ? Original
artist: ?
File:Exterior_of_San_Agustin_Church_from_the_Parking_Lot.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3b/
Exterior_of_San_Agustin_Church_from_the_Parking_Lot.jpg License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist:
Fmgverzon
File:Flag_of_the_Philippines.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/Flag_of_the_Philippines.svg License:
Public domain Contributors: The design was taken from [1] and the colors were also taken from a Government website Original artist:
User:Achim1999
File:Metro_Manila_location_map.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3d/Metro_Manila_location_map.
svg License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors:
Map derived from File:BlankMap-MetroManila.png Original artist: Philtro
File:Paoay_Church_Ilocos_Norte.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/Paoay_Church_Ilocos_Norte.
jpg License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Markstephenjayme
File:Ph-mm-manila-intramuros-san_agustin_church_(2014).JPG Source:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/bc/
Ph-mm-manila-intramuros-san_agustin_church_%282014%29.JPG License: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Red_pog.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/0c/Red_pog.svg License: Public domain Contributors: ? Original
artist: ?
File:Sta._Maria_Church,_Ilocos_Sur.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ed/Sta._Maria_Church%2C_
Ilocos_Sur.jpg License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Harrybalais

6.3

Content license

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0