From a church in San Mateo, Rizal that has a red brick facade let us now do a virtual Visita Iglesia to a famous chapel in Nasugbu, Batangas that stands out because of its red brick walls. This chapel is popularly known as the best church for weddings in Nasugbu: the Transfiguration Chapel a.k.a. Caleruega Church.
Our family visited this church on a whim enroute home from a beach outing in Calayo, Nasugbu. It is on our way, so why not visit this church, right? Turns out that it was a good decision for us because our visit to Caleruega became a memorable part of our family trip.
Caleruega is not just a church but a spiritual retreat center for the Dominicans. The center’s motto is “closer to nature, closer to God” as the lush scenery of Batulao Mountain Range gives the priests a good place for meditation and contemplation. This lush scenery gave our children a chance to experience nature.
Our first stop was the Dominicum, which I thought was already the Transfiguration Chapel. I was wrong because it is just a retreat house.
What I noticed immediately at the Dominicum are the pineapples on its facade. I wonder why they placed pineapples there? Is it because this part of Nasugbu has pineapple plantations?
Inside the Dominicum is the beautiful replica of Our Lady of Manaoag.
The image of our lady is present in Caleruaga because her basilica in Manaoag, Bulacan is under the care of the Dominicans.
I guess Our Lady of Manaoag is telling me to also visit her in Manaoag.
The Dominicum also features Saint Dominic, who is the founder of the Dominican Order. His relic is also on display.
Saint Dominic is called “de Caleruega” because the small town of Caleruega in Spain is his place of birth.
According to Shoestring Diary, the Caleruega Retreat Center was established in 1994. It was developed with as minimal disturbance to the environment as possible. In fact, the designer of this retreat center, Arch. Yolanda D. Reyes, was awarded with the 1996 Design Awards in Architecture for her “graceful blending of man-made structures with the natural curves preserved through careful architectural handling and biotecture planning”.
We walked around the Caleruega Retreat Center before climbing up to the Transfiguration Chapel. We looked at images of the saints amidst the greenery.
Our kids experienced crossing the hanging bridge with much fear and trembling. My wife and daughter enjoyed the beautiful flowers planted around the retreat center.
Climbing up to the Transfiguration Chapel is difficult and a little bit exhausting because we walked up through a steep set of stairs dubbed as the Dominican Steps. My kids are as energetic as ever because they bet on who can reach the chapel first. They were up the stairs in no time! It is enviable to be a kid sometimes.
My exhaustion was blown away when I saw the Transfiguration Chapel.
The red brick walls really made the chapel stand out from the surrounding greens.
The Transfiguration Chapel is of Spanish-Moorish design as can be seen in its use of horseshoe arch on the doors, facade, and windows.
Unfortunately there was a wedding during our visit so I was not able to explore inside the chapel. It is difficult to explore this chapel peacefully because it is one of the popular churches for weddings.
I think the name “transfiguration” is apt for this chapel. Just like the apostles who experienced the transfiguration of Jesus up on a hill, the bride and groom in this chapel experienced similar transfiguration in front of the altar. They are “transfigured” from two separate persons into one body after their wedding ceremony.
Our visit to Caleruega Retreat Center and its Transfiguration Chapel was a good sidetrip. It allowed us to experience God in the nature that He created and also with the beautiful chapel that draws hundreds of pilgrims every year.
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Visita Iglesia is the Filipino tradition of visiting churches during the Holy Week. This virtual Visita Iglesia is my own tradition wherein I post about one church each day of the Holy Week.
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