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VIGAN |
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About 135km north of San Fernando (La Union) lies the old Spanish
town of VIGAN , an obligatory stop on any swing through the northern
provinces. It has become a bit of a cliché to describe Vigan as a living
museum, but you have to admit it does some justice to the tag. One of
the oldest towns in the Philippines, it was called Nueva Segovia in
Spanish times and was an important political, military, cultural and
religious centre. It still has pavements of cobbled stones and some of
the finest old Spanish colonial architecture in the country, including
some impressive homes that once belonged to friars, merchants and
colonial officials. Various governmental and non-governmental
organizations have joined forces to preserve the old buildings. Many are
still lived in, others are used as curio shops and a few have been
converted into museums. Vigan can thank Juan de Salcedo for its glorious
architecture. The grandson of conquistador Miguel de Legaspi, he was
made ruler of Ilocos province in the late sixteenth century and
immediately set about emulating his grandfather's design of Intramuros.
Vigan's time-capsule ambience is aided by the decision to close some of
the streets to traffic and allow only pedestrians and carretelas , one-pony,
two-seat traps - a ride in one of these makes for a romantic way to tour
the town.
Vigan is one of the easier Philippine towns to negotiate because its
streets follow a fairly regular grid pattern. Mena Crisolog Street runs
south from Plaza Burgos and is lined with quaint old antique shops and
cafés. Running parallel to it is the main thoroughfare, Governor A Reyes
Street. Between Plaza P Burgos and Plaza Salcedo, stands the town's
cathedral , St Paul's, dating back to 1641 - one of the oldest
cathedrals in the country. Next to the cathedral, the Padre Burgos House
National Museum (Mon-Fri 8.30-11am & 1.30-4.30pm) celebrates one of the
town's most famous residents, Padre Jose Burgos, whose martyrdom in 1872
galvanized the revolutionary movement. The museum is a captivating old
colonial house and houses fourteen paintings by the artist Villanueva,
depicting the violent 1807 Basi Revolt, prompted by a Spanish effort to
control the production of basi (sugar cane wine).
Souvenir-hunters after something more than the usual bulk-produced
tourist nick-nacks should head for Rowilda's Hand Loom , on Mena
Crisologo near the Cordillera Inn, which offers the kind of old-style
textiles that used to be traded during colonial times. Vigan is also
known for its pottery. The massive wood-fired kilns at the Pagburnayan
Potteries in Rizal Street, at the junction with Liberation Boulevard,
turn out huge jars, known as burnay, used by northerners for storing
everything from vinegar to fish paste. Carabao (water buffalo) are used
to squash the clay under hoof.
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