Taal Volcano , St. Agustine Church, and Vigan Cathedral

Taal Volcano and Taal Lake
Tagaytay

Taal Lake was said to occupy a caldera of a massive ancient volcano. One mythical tale relates that a cataclysmic eruption was believed be the cause for the slopes to cave in and for water to rush in thereby forming the lake, leaving only the tip of the previous peak exposed to become the current Volcano Island.

This area now contains two islands, the Volcano Island, which is a National Park, and the tiny Napayan Island. Taal Volcano on Volcano Island is touted to be the world's lowest active volcano.

St. Augustine Church (most popularly known as "Paoay Church") was built in 1694 commissioned by the Augustinian friars led by Fr. Antonio Estavillo. The Church was completed in 1710 and rededicated in 1896. Considered as the most outstanding variant of the "earthquake Baroque", Paoay Church was built of baked bricks, coral rocks, salbot (tree sap) and lumber, and has 24 carved buttresses. The lower part of the facade was made of stuccoed brick while the upper facaed is made of coral blocks. Local materials were said to be made of mixing sand , lime, sugarcane juice and then boiling the mixture with mangeao (salbot) leaves, leather and rice straw for two nights. Its belltower, which is detached from its main building, is made of coral stone and was used by the Katipuneros as an observation post in 1896 and again by Filipino soldiers during World War II. Earthquakes damaged portions of the church in 1865 and 1885. In an excavation conducted inside the church in 2000, a prehistoric human skeleton and fragmented ceramics were discovered and are now on display at the National Museum. The Paoay Church was declared a national treasure by then President Ferdinand Marcos. Now included in UNESCO's World Heritage List, Paoay Church had revealed several structural decays after centuries of exposure to the elements and will soon undergo restoration under the auspices of UNESCO.

Vigan Cathedral
Vigan Park, Ilocos Sur

The first Vigan Cathedral was ordered built in 1574 by Juan de Salcedo. Another version of the church was again constructed in 1641. The persent baroque-style building was completed in 1800. The Cathedral has a main altar with beaten-silver panels. Its bell tower stands separately in Plaza Burgos. The Fu dogs design carved above its outermost doors is testament to Vigan's strong Chinese heritage.