Naga Metropolitan Cathedral

(Part III of the “Sinjin’s Roadtrip to Beauteous Bicolandia” series)

DAY 1.

After some minutes of trial and error in search of the Naga Metropolitan Cathedral, we finally found the church at 2:26pm. It is located along Elias Angeles St. in the heart of Naga City.

The exteriors of the Naga Metropolitan Cathedral. The church looks small but in reality it is huge! It is, if I’m not mistaken, the largest Catholic church in Bicol.

The Cathedral of Naga is one of the most magnificent churches in Bicol and it is one of the most beautiful churches I’ve been to. The Cathedral was for many years the seat of the Archdiocese of Caceres which encompassed the six Bicol provinces. Naga City was called Nueva Caceres before it was renamed.

The Cathedral was erected when the Diocese of Nueva Caceres was created by a Papal Bull on August 14, 1595. The cathedral was destroyed by fire in 1768. The construction of the present cathedral in Spanish-Romanesque style began on 1808 and was headed by Bishop Bernardo dela Concepcion in. It was finished in 1843 and was blessed by Mons. Tomas Ladron de Guevara. It was damaged by a typhoon in October 1856, and was then restored by Rev. Fray Francisco Gainza in 1862-1879. It was again damaged, this time by an earthquake in 1887 and was quickly repaired by Obras Publicas under the direction of Bishop Arsenio Campo and Engineer Ricardo Ayuso in 1890.

The “gazebo” or whatever it is called (obviously I don’t know what it’s called) on the Naga Cathedral grounds.

The Holy Rosary Minor Seminary, situated beside the Naga Metropolitan Cathedral

Now let’s take a look at the interiors of the Church.

When I checked out the interiors, I noticed that its ceilings do not look as old as its facade. The interiors must have undergone renovation, modification or restoration of some sort. The ceilings, by the way, were painted using an art technique called “Trompe-l’œil” which involves extremely realistic imagery in order to create the optical illusion that the depicted objects appear in three-dimensions, instead of actually being a two-dimensional painting.

The altar of the Naga Cathedral. Grand!

Beautiful! Spanking shiny floor tiles. Everything’s shining, shimmering, splendid!

The Church looks small in this photo but it isn’t. Notice that the main door is closed? The Church was supposedly closed that day but since we introduced ourselves as tourists from Cebu (which we really are), the church’s security guard opened one of the side doors of the church and let us enter the grand church.

(…to be continued)

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