Filipino Sojourner: Manila Cathedral

Showing posts with label Manila Cathedral. Show all posts

Giant Bells of Manila Cathedral

I attended a wedding of a friend at Manila Cathedral last week. It was the first Catholic wedding that I attended and I am moved so much that my heart skipped a beat or two. My beloved commented that she felt a heavy feeling during the wedding. Me and my beloved got “emotional” while the bride is walking toward the altar. That scene is still imprinted on my mind. A bride, all adorned in white, walking slowly in a cavernous cathedral to bind herself, for life, with the man she loves. I almost cried during that long, slow, walk to forever.
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Suffice it to say that my friend's wedding went on smoothly. His guests also enjoyed the reception that they hosted in an events place inside Intramuros. What delighted me, aside from my friend's wedding, is the discovery of something big in Manila Cathedral.

While we were waiting for the wedding to start, I decided to walk around Manila Cathedral. I noticed a signboard on the left part of Manila Cathedral. The signboard points to interesting parts of the cathedral grounds like the souvenir shops, basilica office and the carillon bells.
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Signpost pointing to bell garden of Manila Cathedral.

What caught my attention are the words “carillon bells” because it made me recall my visit to Cebu Cathedral Museum, which showcased very old bells collected all around the island of Cebu. I pulled my beloved to where the carillon bells are due to excitement. What I saw made my jaw drop.
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Giant bells of Manila Cathedral

The bells is truly gigantic! The bells that I saw in Cebu Cathedral Museum can be considered as baby bells compared to the bells of Manila Cathedral. The bells, which are seven in total, are housed inside the Jaime L. Cardinal Sin Ground Belfry. The ground belfry was inaugurated in April 2011 in honor of Cardinal Sin, who is the archbishop of Manila during the turbulent historical events like the Marcos dictatorship and the first EDSA People Power Revolution. The seven big bells were taken down from the adjacent Bell Tower to deload it of 17 tons of weight as a safety measure.
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Manila Cathedral's bell tower

The seven bells of Manila Cathedral were foundered by Friedrich Wilhelm Schilling, who is considered as one of the best bell-founders in Germany after the Second World War. This fact explained the word “teutonicus” that I saw embossed on one of the bells.

According to the plaque outside the ground belfry, the bell of Manila Cathedral dethroned Pan-ay Bell in being the largest bell in the Philippines. Pan-ay Bell can be found inside Santa Monica Church in the province of Capiz. I haven't yet seen the Pan-ay Bell so I can't validate if what plaque said is true. What I can ensure is that the Manila Cathedral is very big. The bell's clapper is thicker than my fist.
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My hand touching the bell's clapper.

What delighted me more is when I discovered that the ground belfry is operational. The belfry guard told me that the seven bells can be rung for just for a small amount of donation to the cathedral. An idea struck me, I want these bells ring during my funeral.
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Manila Cathedral- machine that operates the bells

The machine that makes Manila Cathedral's giant bells ring.

The ground belfry also serves as a souvenir shop of Manila Cathedral. Available inside the souvenir shop are religious items like the Rosary, images of saints and devotional books. The ground belfry is the centerpiece of the Rufino J. Cardinal Santos Bell Garden. Anybody can enter the bell garden and the ground belfry for free. Taking photos of the giant bells are allowed and the person who mans the souvenir shop is courteous.

I highly recommend that tourists visiting Manila Cathedral to also visit the ground belfry. Your visit will not be complete if you only saw the giant pipe organ inside Manila Cathedral. You should also see Manila Cathedral's giant bells.

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Manila Cathedral's Pipe Organ

I have have visited Manila Cathedral a couple of times in the past but I did not venture inside of the majestic church. It is unfortunate for me that I did not saw the interesting things inside Manila Cathedral in my past visits. What I only saw in my past visits are the front of cathedral and the beautifully engraved church doors.
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One of the doors of Manila Cathedral depicting the history of the church.

I only made a full tour of the interior of Manila Cathedral when I accompanied an American visitor of our office in his tour around Intramuros. Thanks to our foreign visitor, I got the chance to see the altar, retablos, stained glass windows and other works of art inside the cathedral. What made our visitor totally amazed, however, is the pipe organ that he saw when he happened to look up the cathedral's ceiling. He was amazed with large size of Manila Cathedral's pipe organ.
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Manila Cathedral's pipe organ.

A much better photo of the pipe organ can be seen in Flickr site of Cealwyn.

The pipe organ was made by Pels and Sohn, a Flemish organ-building company, in 1958. It was in state of disrepair for 15 years. Restoration work was done on Manila Cathedral's pipe organ and it was relaunched in December 2006.

Manila Cathedral's pipe organ is considered the biggest pipe organ in Southeast Asia. It has 5,500 pipes, which are either flutes or trumpets, placed on seven major chests

I am glad that I saw Manila Cathedral's pipe organ. My only wish now is to hear it being played.

The next stop of our tour is the San Agustin Museum.

Read my first tour around Intramuros.

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Information about Manila Cathedral's pipe organ was obtained from CBCP News.

The Walled City of Intramuros

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At last I got the chance to visit the most historical site in Metro Manila. That site, of course, is Intramuros. It is located at the heart of Manila and stores the large part of Philippine history.

Intramuros is the center of the Spanish colonial government during the time when the Philippines is under the rule of the Spanish Empire. Intramuros is both a city and a fort and is protected by thick walls made of adobe and cannons that were used to repel foreign invaders and Filipino revolutionaries. Now, Intramuros serves as the country’s largest open-air museum showcasing different relics of the past.

I visited Intramuros during my birthday, accompanied by a friend. I thought that I will tour the whole Intramuros by foot. Thankfully, a pedicab driver / tour guide offered us a ride.
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View of Manila City Hall on the walls of Intramuros

Touring Inside Intramuros

A visitor of Intramuros can visit the many points of interest by walking. However, this is not recommended for those who have a limited time to tour the place. Intramuros is a big place and walking will tire you out before you enjoy the sites and the relics within the whole city.

What I recommend is that you hire a pedicab driver (note: pedicab is a bicycle with a sidecar covered from sunlight and rain) to take you to the many places in Intramuros. The pedicab driver/tour guide knows the ins and outs of Intramuros. The one we hired, for instance, is armed with a pamphlet showing the historical places within the walled city. Thus, you could rely to the pedicab driver to tour you around the place if you are not sure where to go. The pedicab driver charges 100 pesos per hour. In the end of the tour I paid him 200 pesos for the two hours of service plus a tip of 50 pesos.

Aside for the pedicab, you could also hire a “kalesa” (a horse drawn carriage) to tour you around the city, but it is more expensive than hiring a pedicab. You may also opt for a formal tour offered by established tour companies and associations in Intramuros. The formal tour offers a ride on nice kalesa (probably a model of kalesa used by the affluent during the Spanish period) and a certified tour guide. However, it is the most expensive of all the touring options in Intramuros.
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A foreigner enjoying her tour on a “kalesa”

Baluarte de San Andres

Our first stop is Baluarte de San Andres. It was built in 1903 to protect the Old Real Gate (the gate facing the Manila City Hall) and reinforce the Southeastern part of Intramuros. The Baluarte suffered two major destructions; the first is during the British siege of Manila (1762) and the Battle of Manila (1945). What I like most in this site is the set of cannons that were preserved since Spanish times. I couldn’t help but imagine a scene where our Katipuneros were being bombarded by these deadly cannons.

Here are some of my pictures of the cannons in this baluarte:

Puerta Real and Revellin de Real

These two places serve as a mini-museum of Intramuros. Puerta Real and Revellin de Real contain old bells, samurais and kabutos (armor of a Japanese warrior), ancient guns, small cannons and cannon balls. These ancient relics were unearthed within Intramuros. However, you could only look through the window to see these relics since entering the room holding these things is prohibited.

A room filled with cannons, guns, and helmets. The ball on the table on the lower left corner is a cannonball.

This is the largest of all the bells present in the room.

Here’s the few of the samurais unearthed within Intramuros.

San Agustin Church

The San Agustin Church is one of the churches that were built inside the walled city. Unfortunately, I did not get the chance to see the altar and the other things inside the church because it was locked. Because of this, I just contented myself at looking at the beautifully engraved doors of the church.

The locked doors of San Agustin Church.

Attempts to enter the church were thwarted by the threat of being eaten by the Church’s guards.

(Note: After 4 years since uploading this post, I got the chance to enter this church during our wedding preparations. Read my post about San Agustin Church. Also read about my visit to San Agustin Museum)
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Manila Cathedral

The Manila Cathedral was the place where the late President Cory Aquino was interned before she was sent to her final resting place. The cathedral serves as the office of the Archbishop of Manila. Located at the heart of Intramuros, the cathedral symbolizes the importance of the Church in the Philippine society.

The entrance to the Manila Cathedral.

Inside Manila Cathedral. The altar is too far be seen.

This is the best church door that I had ever seen.

Engravings on the doors of Manila Cathedral

The Church, the ship of salvation.

(Note: In other posts, I talked about the giant bells of Manila Cathedral and also its pipe organ)
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Fort Santiago

Our last stop is none other than Fort Santiago. The fort is the oldest fortification in Manila and dates back to the time of Rajah Soliman. Various places could be found inside Fort Santiago like Jose Rizal’s prison cell before he was sent to his execution in Bagumbayan (now known as Rizal Park), Rizal’s last footsteps, and the Dungeons. There is also a well-maintained park with food and souvenir shops. There is an entrance fee of seventy-five (75) Philippine pesos to enter the fort.