Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
VIGAN'S FESTIVALS
The biggest secular festival is the week-long Vigan Town Fiesta , involving carnivals, parades,
musical extravaganzas, beauty contests and nightly cultural shows. It culminates on January 25
with the celebration of the conversion of St Paul the Apostle, the town's patron saint. Almost
straight after that, at the end of January, comes the Kannawidan Ilocos , a recent addition to
the festival calendar celebrating the culture of Ilocos Sur. It includes a “battle of the bands” and
a beauty contest.
The Viva Vigan Binatbatan Festival of Arts , held in the first week of May, includes dancing
and music; the highlight is the religious celebration on May 3 (Tres de Mayo), which starts with
a Mass at Vigan's cemetery chapel and continues with dancing in Crisologo Street and a kalesa
parade. Holy Week is also a special time in Vigan, with candlelit processions through the old
streets and a visita iglesia that sees devotees doing the rounds of churches and cathedrals.
important thoroughfare is elegant old Crisologo Street , which is closed to tra c.
Architecturally, the houses are fundamentally Chinese or Mexican, influenced either by
the immigrant architects from China's eastern seaboard who prepared the plans, or by
ideas picked up by the Spanish in their South American colony. Local artisans,
meanwhile, added flourishes such as sliding capiz-shell windows and ventanillas
(ventilated walls). A few homes are open to the public, offering an intimate view of
ilustrado life at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
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Crisologo Museum
Liberation Blvd • Daily 8.30-11.30am & 1.30-4.30pm • Donations welcome
he Crisologo Museum , former home of the influential - and sometimes controversial
- Crisologo family, displays photographs, mementos and personal memorabilia,
including the bright pink Chevrolet in which Governor Carmeling was ambushed
in 1961. She survived the attack, unlike her husband congressman Floro Crisologo,
who was shot twice in the head in October 1970 while attending mass inside Vigan
Cathedral. There's a macabre selection of photographs from the death scene, along with
the bloodied trousers he was wearing at the time.
Syquia Mansion
Quirino Blvd at Salcedo St • Mon & Wed-Sun 9am-noon & 1.30-5pm; Tues by appointment only • P30 • T 0915 663 3547
Built in 1830, Syquia Mansion , the former family mansion and holiday home of Doña
Alicia Syquia, wife of President Elpidio Quirino, has been restored and furnished in
nineteenth-century style. The various furnishings reflect the Chinese roots of the
Syquia family, wealthy traders who migrated to the Philippines from mainland China
to trade with the Spaniards. Look out for the beautiful 1910 piano and the wooden
camphor chest that to this day emanates a strong smell that is a natural insect repellent.
Quema House
8 Encarnacion St • By appointment only • Donations welcome • T 075 632 0480
The beautiful Quema House , built in the 1820s, was home to Don Mariano Quema,
one of the city's wealthiest merchants. The mansion is unique in Vigan in that it
contains virtually all of the original furnishings and decor, from the Vienna chairs in
the living room to the intricately painted vines on the ceiling. The volada on the first
floor is typical of this kind of house: a passageway encircling the living area that
allowed servants to pass discreetly and functioned as a balcony looking over the street.
St Paul's Metropolitan Cathedral
Burgos St • Daily 6am-6pm
Built by the Augustinians between 1890 and 1900, St Paul's Metropolitan Cathedral
was designed in “earthquake Baroque” style, with thick ramparts and a belfry built 15m
 
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