Bantay is a small town close to Vigan, it is one of the Municipalities of Ilocos Sur. It is just a few minutes drive from Vigan's Heritage town so make sure to visit this place after your Vigan tour.
Bantay is famous for its Bell Tower, which is named after the town. For sure you have seen so many photos of this tower since it is one of the most well photographed structure of Ilocos Sur. It was built in 1591 and said to be the people's watchtower during the war.
here's the inside of the tower, at the top they have constructed this wooden staircase and floor, but nobody is controlling the number of people who can get up the tower. Quite dangerous if you ask me.
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| the bell |
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| view from one side of the tower is Bantay's public cemetery |
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| view of the St Augustine Church |
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| the statue of Our Lady of Charity, who is Nueva Segovia’s patroness and the Bell Tower in the background |
A stone throw away from the Bell Tower is St Augustine's Church which was built in 1590.
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| St Augustine Chruch and statue of Our Lady of Charity |
St Augustine Church is one of the oldest surviving churches in Ilocos Sur.
The church was damaged during World War II and was reconstructed in 1950. Above picture of a boy's statue is a portion of the church that was not repaired. The place looks like a portion of a garden.
The vicinity of the church and the bell tower is historic too. Year 1763, during Silang Revolt, this is the same grounds where Diego Silang and his troops were said to have fought with the Spaniards.
I still have yet to set foot on this place myself. From the point of view of your lens, the place just looks oh so cool!
ReplyDeleteI've also been to this town not so few years ago and the bell and the tower was really nice to look at. Unfortunately, this were the pre-degital camera age for me.
ReplyDeleteWow! ang ganda ng lugar i wish na makarating ako sa lugar nato. Stunning view of Bantay Bell Tower!
ReplyDeleteI love the photos!! Ganda ng view!
ReplyDeletethanks Rizza! sobrang init that day but well worth it! ;)
DeleteThe first pic is a metapicture hehe. Someone took a picture of you while you were taking a picture. Btw, can tourists ring those big bells?
ReplyDeleteyeah haha. I want to break from the norm so I decided to put that one as the first photo..hehe. the place is so crowded unfortunately, can't even stay long at the tower the queue is so long we did not even try to ring the bell. But noone is there to assist the crowd so anyone can try.
DeleteThis is the very reason why I in favor of preserving ancient churches for they remind us of the significance of history of the past.
ReplyDeleteTotally fabulous, Philippines really has lots to offer, that St. Augustine church looks like it was taken abroad.
ReplyDeletewow...ang ganda ng staircase... nothing to compare with our old architectures...:D
ReplyDeletei hope the government and those capable private citizens would help preserve these wonderful historical landmarks... treasures of our country. and our fellow filipinos to take care of it, and not leaving childish vandalism in the place. Yahweh bless.
ReplyDeleteGreat place! I never thought na may ganyang klaseng lugar dito sa Pilipinas! Must. Visit. Ilocos. Region. Soon!
ReplyDeleteHistorical place tat must be preserved by the government not only for tourist attraction but for our heritage and history.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to old churches, Ilocos is my top-of-mind choice while Bicol is my second. I prefer Ilocos because their sites are more well maintained.
ReplyDeleteThere is really something romantic about historical buildings and ruins for me. Great to see that after all these years, it is still lovingly kept. Looking forward to seeing this when I head over to Ilocos next year.
ReplyDeleteI love the photo of St Augustine Church.. It is very beautiful! A very historic place indeed.
ReplyDeleteIlocos Sur is my one must-see place in the Philippines in this lifetime.
ReplyDeleteThe church looks so nice. Wish I could visit the bell someday. It looks like a great place for a prenup. :)
ReplyDeletenice shot vi
ReplyDeletei saw similar photographs at a local art gallery, last month. these photographs looked familiar to me.
ReplyDeletethanks for dropping by Fifleigh! wow similar shots like mine, which means I am good! hehe.. thanks I will treat that as a compliment. I don't post pictures here with my watermark if they are not my shots, and I give photo credits if ever I use photos from the internet which is very rare. Thanks again! ;)
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