Miagao Church (Santo Tomas de Villanueva) — Attraction in Miagao

Being a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Santo Tomas de Villanueva Church or Miag-ao Church is the most visited tourist attraction in Iloilo, if not in the whole Island of Panay. Although I have already read a lot of tributes about this Baroque church, it was only in 2023 when my interest of visiting it grew more intense. I was on board a coaster on the way to Garinfarm along with the co-employees of my wife on a company outing when I caught a glimpse of the orange-colored stone walls of the Miag-ao Church that looks so alluring. Living in Negros Occidental in the adjacent Negros Island and with a family to raise, I really had to summon some resolve to realize such a visit. Fortunately, my wife, Belle, was also game to the idea and June 16, 2024 we conducted our Southern Iloilo Stone Churches Tour with the visit to the Miag-ao Church as the centerpiece. From San Joaquin, we boarded a Ceres bus and arrived in Miag-ao Plaza at two-thirty in the afternoon. On that day, we started our actual church-hopping in the stone church of San Joaquin in keeping with our plan to visit one church after another while heading back to Iloilo City. After Miag-ao, we had to visit Guimbal, Tigbauan and Oton for the latter's church ruins if time allows. Evidently, we were already running out of time in Miag-ao and were facing the prospect of abandoning our next stop which is in Guimbal. The delays were the risks we had to pay for conducting our tour by commuting, instead of succumbing to the common guided bus tour of heritage churches in Iloilo. Yet, I wouldn't trade doing it the hard way for convenience where the experience is less rich and less gratifying. After having our lunch in a burger stall, we proceeded to the church nearby to begin our investigation. Despite of its relatively unkempt surroundings, the Miag-ao Church truly lives up to its billing. The craftsmanship and intricacy of details of the images portrayed in the stone carvings of its famous facade is really astounding. Its massive walls made up of precisely hewn coral stones, each fitted in place, is an amazing work by craftsmen of a bygone era that could hardly be replicated in the modern world. Although built for the dual purpose as a fortress against Moro pirates, the church has an interior that is stunningly beautiful in its decorative spareness. It has no transept and a dome common to artistically designed cruciform-shaped church. It has a singular nave that doesn't require two sets of colonnades to support a dome vault ceiling on top of a main nave. Instead, the massive walls pierced by huge arched windows are supporting the ceiling. Lavishness however are invested on the wood carvings of its retablo and the stone carvings in the topmost part of the walls. With the Miag-ao Church alone our tour in Southern Iloilo was already...

Santo Tomás de Villanueva Parish (Miagao Church) Miagao, Iloilo Province

The church's over-all architectural style falls under the Baroque-Romanesque style. It's ochre color is due to the materials used in constructing the church: adobe, egg, coral and limestone. The façade of the church consists of an ornately decorated bas-relief in the middle of two huge watchtower belfries on each side. The bas-relief is a mixed influence of medieval Spanish, Chinese, Muslim and local traditions and elements, a unique characteristic of the church façade. A prominent part of the façade is a coconut tree depicted as the tree of life where St. Christopher holds on. St. Christopher is dressed in local and traditional clothing carrying the Child Jesus on his back. The rest of the façade features the daily life of the people of Miagao during that time including native flora (like papaya, coconut and palm tree) and fauna.

Above the wooden door entrance at the center of the façade just below the image of St. Christopher is a carved image of the town's patron saint, St. Thomas of Villanueva. At each side of the door is the images of St. Henry of Bavaria on the left and Pope Pius VI. Above the images of St. Henry and Pope Pius VI is their respective coat-of-arms.

The two huge unequal bell towers directly attached to the main church serve as watchtowers to defend the town against invasion of Moros. It has two different designs since it was commissioned by two different priests. On the left side is the older belfry, the tallest west belfry with four levels. Originally, the east belfry was constructed only with two levels. It was in 1830 when Father Francisco Perez decided to add another story to the east belfry. Until now, the east belfry (three levels) is one level shorter that the west belfry (four levels). The original late 1790s images of St. Tomas of Villanova can also be found enclosed in a glass case in the rear side of the church.

The sanctuary of the church is composed of an altar, tabernacle, retablo and shrines on both sides. The retablo is gold-plated and consists of a crucifix (center), statue of St. Joseph (left), statue of St. Thomas (right) and a statue of Sto. Niño (top). The shrine on the left of the altar houses the Sacred Heart of Jesus while the shrine on the right of the altar houses the Immaculate...

When my wife set out to see the stone churches or Spanish era churches in Southern Iloilo, the centerpiece is obviously the Miagao Church, one of four "Baroque Churches in the Philippines" under the UNESCO World Heritage List. Having finally able to touch its stones and stare wonderingly from the base of its famous facade, I was able to achieve a fervent wish - one I only look longingly from a distance while traversing a few times the highway in Miag-ao. With it, I was able to complete the 4 after having already visited the 3 others - San Agustin Church in Manila, San Agustin Church in Paoay, Ilocos Norte and Nuestra Señora de la Asuncion in Santa Maria, Ilocos Sur.

I am doubly happy to see the Miagao Church because I have with me my wife, Belle, who began an interest if visiting interesting churches a year ago. The Southern Iloilo visit was our first outside Negros Occidental, our home-province.

We met a group of Japanese tourists appreciating the church. Interestingly, on our way out we boarded the same jeepney with these foreigners who like us happened to be commuting tourists. I admire these foreigners who, despite of the fact that they could well afford a package tour or a tour on a hire van or coaster, prefer to brave the hassle of commuting that my wife and I hurdle better because we speak Hiligaynon, the sister-language of the local Kinaray-a. Travel offers richer experience when in closer contact with the locals rather than following the heels of a tour guide.

I found the stone carvings on the facade truly marvelous. The precision and attention to details are beyond measure. How the stones were shaped and fitted in place is also of precise workmanship. The church is truly a heritage of mankind.

On that day, time constraint led me and wife to whittle down our objectives from seven churches to only three churches. We started with the San Joaquin Church and have to settle for the last in Guimbal. Yet, having already visited the Miag-ao church, the Guimbal church is...