Roman Catholic church in Manila, Philippines
Church in Manila, Philippines
The
Minor Basilica of San Sebastian and Archdiocesan Shrine of Our Lady of Mount Carmel
(
Filipino
:
Basilika Minore ng San Sebastian at Arkdyosis Dambana ng Mahal na Birhen ng Bundok na Carmelo
;
Spanish
:
Basilica Minore de San Sebastian y Santuario Archidiocesis Senora de Monte Carmelo
), better known as
San Sebastian Church
(
Filipino
:
Simbahan ng San Sebastian
) or
San Sebastian Basilica
, is a
minor basilica
of the
Roman Catholic Church
in
Manila
,
Philippines
.
The current structure completed in 1891, the San Sebastian Church is noted for its architecture. An example of the
Gothic Revival architecture
in the Philippines, it is the only
steel building
church in the Philippines.
[2]
[3]
It was designated as a National Historical Landmark in 1973
[4]
and as a National Cultural Treasure in 2011.
[5]
San Sebastian Church is under the care of the
Order of Augustinian Recollects
, who also operate the
San Sebastian College-Recoletos
adjacent to the basilica. It is located at Plaza del Carmen, near the eastern end of
Recto Avenue
, in
Quiapo, Manila
.
[6]
History
[
edit
]
In 1621, Bernardino Castillo, a generous patron and a devotee of the 3rd-century Roman martyr
Saint Sebastian
, donated the land upon which the church stands. The original structure, made of wood, burned in 1651 during a
Chinese Filipino
uprising. Succeeding structures, which were built of brick, were destroyed by fire and earthquakes in 1859, 1863, and 1880.
[6]
In the 1880s, Esteban Martinez, the parish priest of the ruined church, approached Spanish Architect Genaro Palacios to build a church that will withstand the earthquakes. Palacios planned to build a fire and earthquake-resistant structure made entirely of steel. He completed a design that fused
Earthquake Baroque
with the
Neo-Gothic
style.
[6]
His final design was said to have been inspired by the famed Gothic
Burgos Cathedral
in
Burgos
,
Spain
.
[6]
Construction
[
edit
]
The prefabricated steel sections that would compose the church were manufactured in
Binche
,
Belgium
.
[2]
According to historian
Ambeth Ocampo
, the knockdown steel parts were ordered from the
Societe anonyme des Enterprises de Travaux Publiques
in Brussels.
[7]
In all, 52 metric tons (51 long tons; 57 short tons) of prefabricated steel sections were transported in eight separate shipments from
Belgium
to the Philippines, the first shipment arriving in 1888.
[6]
Belgian engineers supervised the assembly of the church, the first column of which was erected on September 11, 1890.
[8]
The walls were filled with mixed sand, gravel, and cement.
[4]
The
stained glass
windows were imported from the
Heinrich Oidtmann Company
, a German stained glass firm, while local artisans assisted in applying the finishing touches.
[2]
The church was raised to the status of a
minor basilica
by
Pope Leo XIII
on June 24, 1890.
[4]
Upon its completion the following year, on August 15, 1891, the Basilica Menor de San Sebastian was consecrated by Bernardino Nozaleda y Villa
OP
, the 25th
Archbishop of Manila
.
[4]
According to Jesus Pastor Paloma, an Augustinian Recollect priest, the structure was also supposed to have a prefabricated
retablo
(
reredos
) altar, which was lost at sea when the ship carrying it from Belgium capsized in a storm. A wooden altar was made locally in its stead. Paloma also noted that the bottom part of the church was designed to resemble a ship's hull, so that it would sway during an earthquake.
[9]
Preservation and restoration
[
edit
]
In recent years, San Sebastian Church has encountered threats to its structural integrity. The steel structure has been beset by
rust
and
corrosion
due to
sea breezes
from nearby
Manila Bay
.
[10]
State funding was accorded to the church through the
National Historical Institute
which undertook restoration in 1982. The Recollect community has likewise expended funds for the church's maintenance and restoration.
[2]
In 1998, it was placed on the biennial watchlist of the
100 Most Endangered Sites
by the
World Monuments Fund
, though it was not retained in the subsequent watchlists.
[11]
The church was listed again as one of the most endangered monuments in the world by
World Monuments Fund
in the 2010 World Monuments Watch, along with the
Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras
and
Santa Maria Church
. All of the sites were taken off the list in 2011 after the passage of the National Cultural Heritage Act.
[12]
Architecture
[
edit
]
San Sebastian Church has two openwork towers and steel
vaulting
. From its floor, the basilica's
nave
rises 12 meters (39 ft) to the dome, and 32 meters (105 ft) to the tip of the twin spires.
[4]
The faux finished interior
[5]
of the church incorporates
groined vaults
in the
Gothic architecture
style permitting very ample illumination from lateral windows.
[2]
The steel
columns
, walls and
ceiling
were painted by Lorenzo Rocha, Isabelo Tampingco and Felix Martinez
[5]
to give the appearance of
marble
and
jasper
.
[2]
Trompe-l'œil
paintings of saints and martyrs by Rocha were used to decorate the interiors of the church.
[7]
[5]
True to the Gothic revival spirit of the church are its
confessionals
,
pulpit
,
altars
and five
retablos
designed by Lorenzo Guerrero
[13]
and Rocha. The sculptor Eusebio Garcia carved the statues of holy men and women.
[14]
Six holy water fonts were constructed for the church, each crafted from marble obtained from
Romblon
.
[15]
Above the main altar is the ivory statue of
Our Lady of Mount Carmel
, given to the church by
Carmelite sisters
from
Mexico City
in 1617.
[4]
The image withstood all the earthquakes and fires which had destroyed previous incarnations of San Sebastian Church, but its
ivory
head was stolen in 1975.
[4]
Cultural and historical declarations
[
edit
]
San Sebastian Church was declared a National Historical Landmark by
President
Ferdinand Marcos
through Presidential Decree No. 260 on August 1, 1973.
[16]
[2]
Subsequently, the church was declared a National Cultural Treasure by the
National Museum of the Philippines
on August 15, 2011, with the unveiling of the marker on January 20, 2012.
[5]
On May 16, 2006, San Sebastian Church was included by the National Historical Institute (now the
National Historical Commission of the Philippines
) in the Philippines'
Tentative List
for possible designation as a
World Heritage Site
, on account of its architectural and historical heritage.
[2]
As of 2017,
[ref]
the church is no longer included in the Tentative List.
Troubled UNESCO re-inclusion
[
edit
]
On October 1, 2018, it was revealed that a thirty-one-storey residential high-rise building of Summithome Realty Corporation is being planned to be constructed beside the historic San Sebastian Church, negatively affecting the site's possible re-inclusion in the
UNESCO
tentative list as the area around the church is integral to the site as a 'buffer zone'. The site, the first and only all-steel church in
Asia
, used to be in the UNESCO tentative list but was removed in 2015 due to structural decay. To re-establish the site's integrity and re-inclusion in the tentative list, it underwent a massive restoration program, which conservationists have cited as a megalithic success. However, with the looming threat of the high-rise building, the site's inclusion in the UNESCO list is bleak. Summithome was able to acquire a barangay clearance supporting their application for a building permit from the barangay chairman, without the site managers being initially informed.
[17]
Alleged involvement of Gustave Eiffel
[
edit
]
It has long been reputed that
Gustave Eiffel
, the French engineer behind the
Eiffel Tower
and the steel structure within the
Statue of Liberty
, was involved in the design and construction of San Sebastian, but this was never confirmed.
[3]
[7]
[10]
However, it was confirmed later on that Eiffel was involved in designing and supplying the metal framework for
San Ignacio Church
in
Intramuros
, thus confirming the contribution of Eiffel in Philippine church architecture, if not in San Sebastian Church.
[18]
See also
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
"Vicariate of Jose de Trozo"
.
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manila
. Retrieved
March 4,
2021
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
"San Sebastian Church"
.
UNESCO World Heritage Centre
. Archived from
the original
on March 23, 2015
. Retrieved
September 6,
2017
.
- ^
a
b
Layug (2007)
, p. 88. "The basilica is the first and the only all-steel church in Asia, the second in the world after the Eiffel Tower of Paris (French engineer Alexandre Gustave Eiffel himself is also rumored BUT NEVER CONFIRMED to have been involved in the basilica's construction) "
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
Layug (2007)
, p. 88
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
"San Sebastian Basilica Tagged National Cultural Treasure"
.
Official Website of the Province of Saint Ezekiel Moreno, Order of Augustinian Recollects
. February 3, 2012. Archived from
the original
on September 7, 2014
. Retrieved
September 4,
2012
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Layug (2007)
, p. 87
- ^
a
b
c
De Jesus, Findelle (n.d.).
"The San Sebastian Church ? Gustave Eiffel's Church in the Philippines"
.
Artes de las Filipinas: A Website in Honor of Philippine Arts and Antiquities
.
Archived
from the original on May 22, 2008
. Retrieved
April 20,
2008
.
- ^
Layug (2007)
, pp. 87?88
- ^
Layug, Benjie (March 19, 2022).
"Minor Basilica of San Sebastian (Manila)"
.
benjielayug.com
. Retrieved
March 25,
2023
.
- ^
a
b
Severino, Howie (May 30, 2006).
"An Eiffel in Quiapo"
.
Howie Severino's Sidetrip
.
GMA Network
. Archived from
the original
on October 4, 2011
. Retrieved
April 20,
2008
.
- ^
"San Sebastian Basilica"
.
World Monuments Fund
. Retrieved
October 21,
2021
.
- ^
Villalon, Augusto F. (November 9, 2009).
"3 Philippine Monuments Land in Global Endangered List"
.
Philippine Daily Inquirer
– via PressReader.com.
- ^
Trota Jose, Regalado (1990).
Images of Faith: Religious Ivory Carvings from the Philippines
. Pasadena: Pacific Asia Museum. p. 27.
- ^
Layug (2007)
, pp. 88?89
- ^
Adams, George I. (1909).
"The Marble and Schist Formations of Romblon Island"
.
The Philippine Journal of Science
(Editorial).
4A
(1): 88.
- ^
"Presidential Decree No. 260, s. 1973"
– via Supreme Court E-Library.
- ^
Katigbak-Lacuesta, Mookie (October 1, 2018).
"
'A Godzilla Rising from Hell': The Real Threat a Highrise Brings to San Sebastian"
.
ANCX
. Retrieved
August 14,
2019
.
- ^
Cruz, May Lyn; Torres, Judith (April 16, 2018).
"Escolta Maestros: 6 Filipino Architects Who Shaped the Old CBD"
.
BluPrint
. Retrieved
June 9,
2018
.
References
[
edit
]
- Layug, Benjamin Locsin (2007).
A Tourist Guide to Notable Philippine Churches
. Pasig, Philippines: New Day Publishers. pp. 87?89.
ISBN
978-971-8521-10-6
.
External links
[
edit
]
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