Posted by
Maki Eduardo in
Featured Articles,
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12 9th, 2009 |
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It was a privilege to be part of a tour inside the largest Catholic Church in Asia. Basilica of St. Martin de Tours is located at the heart of Taal Town in Batangas. Augustinian Missionaries started its construction during the 17th century. The church was destroyed when the Taal volcano erupted in 1754 and it took a century for the church to achieve its present form. It stands 96 meters long and 45 meters wide. Though it didn’t seem to not be in large size from its facade, when I finally entered it, I realized how big it really was.
I was overwhelmed upon entering the Basilica. It has a very high dome-like ceiling and filled with arched halls. I didn’t expect such structure inside from what I based on its outside structure.
I took a
3 photo panoramic stitch of what’s inside the Basilica. The interior was had detailed and intricate designs and paintings. It was also unexpectedly bright inside as high ceiling windows served as pretty good sources of light.
A smaller version of my lone pano stitch
Again, I was pretty surprised by the hidden grandeur of the place as to how far simple the church’s exterior was compared to its interior. The symmetry and the definition of the interiors, the sizes of the planks, carvings on the pillars, the paintings on the dome ceilings really did amaze me on how such structure is built within the simple town of Taal.
A view of how high the ceiling was from the floor
My view from below the chandelier
From top to bottom, the church’s interior was well-made and really did put attention to details.
Seeing the pulpit was like a flashback of the Spanish Era as well-described in Jose Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere.
The pulpit
My view from the pulpit
As with other Catholic Churches, it had an area for lighting candles where people request for prayers for their family and others. They have different shapes of candles for lighting a specific petition.
People say that when you enter inside a church for the first time, you get to make 3 wishes. I just remembered I haven’t made any wish since I visited the Basilica of St. Martin de Tours that time.
Bawal mag-ipon ng wish!
Hahaha! :p I’ve been through many new churches…I haven’t made a wish yet!
Ginagamit kaya yung choir loft at yung pulpito dyan?
laki na ng pinagbago ng basilica, super ganda na sa loob. dati kasi madilim siya.
@Bryan- Sa tingin ko hindi na nila ginagamit. Nung pumunta ako sa pulpit may butas sa woodplanks! :p
@Joni- Sabi rin ni Dexter of http://www.techathand.net may naiba daw talaga ^_^. Kakatuwa, ang ganda sa Batangas!
oh? di ko alam na pwede pala mag wish doon. hehehehe
hmmm yung candles daw na girl+boy for lovelife daw yan… lol hmmm ngsindi naman ako nun dati sa Laguna walang nangyari.. haha
=)
btw, new here. Nice Photos.
I came from this town.. Memories and lots of Memories from Taal..
Di na ginagamit yang pulpit na yan.. Matagal na bata pa ako…