What is a visita iglesia without Quiapo Church? It's also known as the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene as well as Saint John the Baptist Parish. It enshrines the miraculous Black Nazarene which has a huge number of devotees. When the district of Quiapo was founded by Governor General Santiago de Vera in 1586, the Franciscan missionaries built a church made of bamboo and nipa materials which was decimated by fire in 1639. More than 200 years later, an earthquake destroyed it. A third church was built and completed in 1899, but this was again razed by fire. Funds were raised and Filipino architect Juan Nakpil was commissioned to rebuild the church.
These days, Quiapo Church is visited by many devotees, and a gargantuan feast day is celebrated every January.
This is the Eye in the Sky!
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| The iconic and miraculous Black Nazarene of Quiapo Church. This photo only courtesy of wikipedia's Constantine Augustine and flickr's blagkensiak. |
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| A caruaje (horse-drawn carriage) in Escolta. |
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| A colonial building that presently houses a branch of the Philippine National Bank (above and below). |
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| Arsenio H. Lacson immortalized in this statue in Plaza Lacson established on December 2003. Lacson was an artist, athlete, journalist, a congressman and the very first elected mayor of the city of Manila in 1952. Undre his stewardship, he helped complete the stockyard, Slaughterhouse, Boystown, Girls Home, Youth Reception Center, Manila Zoo, Quiapo Underpass and the Manila General Hospital, now known as "Ospital ng Maynila". |
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| Manila Post Office |
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| Pasig River |
