10 Must-Visit Historical Sites in Iloilo

Belle Piccio | Jan 18, 2016

Iloilo City is like a treasure chest of history in

Panay Island showing evidence of Spanish colonial
period and western influences.

READ:  Iloilo: Getting to Know the Royal City of the South

The National Historical Commission of the

Philippines (NHCP) has recognized nationally the
historical landmarks of Iloilo such as churches and
monuments. Be brought back in the past during the time
of our Ilonggo ancestors by visiting these historical sites.

Religious Heritage Sites

Jaro Metropolitan Cathedral
The Church of St. Elizabeth of Hungary commonly
known as Jaro Cathedral; photo by Belle Piccio

READ: The Jaro Cathedral: One of Iloilo's Oldest

The Church of St. Elizabeth of Hungary and the National

Shrine of Our Lady of Candles is simply called as Jaro
Cathedral. It is the first and only cathedral in the province.

Miagao Church
The church is located in Miag-ao, Iloilo.

The Sto. Tomas de Villanueva Church, or commonly known

as Miag-ao Church; photo by Belle Piccio

READ: The Baroque Fortress Church of Iloilo: Miag-ao

The Sto. Tomas de Villanueva is commonly called the

Miag-ao Church. The church was completed in 1797 and is
famous for the artistic sculptural relief carved on its façade.
 Molo Church
St. Anne Parish Church, commonly known as Molo
Church; photo by Belle Piccio

The St. Anne Parish Church is commonly

known as Molo Church. The church was built in
1831 and was completed in 1888. It is made of white
corral rock and is considered as one of the most
attractive churches in the Philippines.

San Joaquin Church

zThe church is located in San Joaquin, Iloilo.

San Joaquin Church

The church of San Joaquin is a Roman
Catholic parish that was built during the Spanish era
in the late 1800’s. It is known for its intricate
designs and classical architecture.

Dumangas Church
Dumangas Church; photo via NHCP

The St. Augustine Catholic Parish is locally

known Dumangas Church was built with the
convent in 1572. It did not escape different natural
catastrophes but was immediately reconstructed in
1887 and was finished in 1896. The Dumangas
Church is of Gothic Byzantine architecture flanked
by Corinthian columns. It is said to be the first stone
church of Panay.
 Santa Barbara Church and Convent
The church and convent is located in Santa
Barbara, Iloilo.

Façade of Sta. Barbara Church and Convent; photo

via NHCP

The Santa Barbara Church and Convent was

built in 1849 and was finished in 1878. It was used as
headquarters by the “Ejercito Libertador” or liberation
army headed by Gen. Martin Teofilo Delgado when
the revolutionary government in Visayas was founded
on November 17, 1898.

7) Ermita Chapel
The chapel is located in Dumangas, Iloilo.

Ermita Chapel; photo via NHCP

The chapel was built in the hilly part of Dumangas,

Iloilo. A new chapel was built but you can still see the
old structure and ruins of the original structure inside.
The chapel was declared as a national historical
landmark on June 11, 1978.

Other Historical Sites

8) Nazaria Lagos Monument
The monument is located in Dueñas, Iloilo.

READ: The Florence Nightingale of Panay Island

Nazaria Lagos was the pioneer leader of the Red Cross in

the Visayas Region and performed numerous humanitarian
activities. She helped build the hospital for the rebels, donating
her own hacienda.
 Old Iloilo City Hall (UP Visayas Main Building)
The Old Iloilo City Hall is located in Iloilo City, Iloilo.

Old Iloilo City Hall; photo via NHCP

The building was designed by Juan Arellaño and

Francesco Riccardo Monti and built in 1933-1935. In 1942-1945,
it was used by the Japanese during the war. One 9th of April 1947,
the building was given to the University of the Philippines (UP)
by Mayor Fernando Lopez who became the Philippines’ vice
president. The Old Iloilo City Hall is an example of Neo-Classic
architecture found in the country.

Balantang Memorial Cemetery Shrine

 

Balantang Memorial Cemetery; photo via NHCP

The national shrine marks the “Battle of Balantang.” On this site is

where the bloodiest battle fought by the Panay guerilla forces led by
Col. Macario Peralta. Jr. from February 5 – March 20, 1945. The
monument is dedicated to the freedom fighters of Panay and
Romblon who gave their lives for the cause of freedom and
democracy. The shrine is located in Jaro, Iloilo.
First Voyage Around the World (1519-1522):
An Account of Magellan's Expedition
By Antonio Pigafetta and Theodore J. Cachey Jr.

© 2007

On 10 August 1519, five ships departed from Seville for what was to become the first
circumnavigation of the globe. Linked by fame to the name of its captain, Magellan, much of the
expedition is known through the travelogue of one of the few crew members who returned to
Spain, Antonio Pigafetta. A narrative and cartographic record of the journey (including 23 hand-
drawn watercolour charts) from Patagonia to Indonesia, from the Philippines to the Cape of
Good Hope, Pigafetta's The First Voyage around the World is a classic of discovery and
exploration literature.

This volume is based on the critical edition by Antonio Canova. It includes an extensive
introduction to the work and generous annotations by Theodore J. Cachey Jr who discusses the
marvelous elements of the story through allusions to Magellan's travels made by writers as
diverse as Shakespeare and Gabriel García Márquez. However, Cachey is careful to point out
that Pigafetta's book is far from just a marvel-filled travel narrative. The First Voyage around the
World is also a remarkably accurate ethnographic and geographical account of the
circumnavigation, and one that has earned its reputation among modern historiographers and
students of the early contacts between Europe and the East Indies. Expertly presented and
handsomely illustrated, this edition of Pigafetta's classic travelogue is sure to enlighten new
readers and invigorate the imagination as the story has done since it first appeared.

In search of fame and fortune, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan (c. 1480-1521) set out
from Spain in 1519 with a fleet of five ships to discover a western sea route to the Spice Islands.
En route he discovered what is now known as the Strait of Magellan and became the first
European to cross the Pacific Ocean. The voyage was long and dangerous, and only one ship
returned home three years later. Although it was laden with valuable spices from the East, only
18 of the fleet’s original crew of 270 returned with the ship. Magellan himself was killed in
battle on the voyage, but his ambitious expedition proved that the globe could be circled by sea
and that the world was much larger than had previously been imagined.

Ferdinand Magellan’s Early Years

Ferdinand Magellan (c. 1480–1521) was born in Sabrosa, Portugal, to a family of minor
Portuguese nobility. At age 12 Ferdinand Magellan (Fernão de Magalhães in Portuguese and
Fernando de Magallanes in Spanish) and his brother Diogo traveled to Lisbon to serve as pages
at Queen Leonora’s court. While at the court Magellan was exposed to stories of the great
Portuguese and Spanish rivalry for sea exploration and dominance over the spice trade in the
East Indies, especially the Spice Islands, or Moluccas, in modern Indonesia. Intrigued by the
promise of fame and riches, Magellan developed an interest in maritime discovery in those early
years.

Did you know? Clove was the most valuable spice in Europe during Magellan's day. It was used
to flavor food, but Europeans also believed that its essence could improve vision, its powder
could relieve fevers and that it could enhance intercourse when mixed with milk.

In 1505, Magellan and his brother were assigned to a Portuguese fleet headed for India. Over the
next seven years, Magellan participated in several expeditions in India and Africa and was
wounded in several battles. In 1513 he joined the enormous 500-ship, 15,000-soldier force sent
by King Manuel to Morocco to challenge the Moroccan governor who refused to pay its yearly
tribute to the Portuguese empire. The Portuguese easily overwhelmed the Moroccan forces, and
Magellan stayed on in Morocco. While there he was seriously wounded in a skirmish, which left
him with a limp for the rest of his life.

Magellan: From Portugal to Spain

In the 15th century, spices were at the epicenter of the world economy, much like oil is today.
Highly valued for flavoring and preserving food as well as masking the taste of meat gone bad,
spices like cinnamon, clove, nutmeg and especially black pepper were extremely valuable. Since
spices could not be cultivated in cold and arid Europe, no effort was spared to discover the
quickest sea route to the Spice Islands. Portugal and Spain led the competition for early control
over this critical commodity. Europeans had reached the Spice Islands by sailing east, but none
had yet to sail west from Europe to reach the other side of the globe. Magellan was determined to
be the first to do so.

By now an experienced seaman, Magellan approached King Manuel of Portugal to seek his
support for a westward voyage to the Spice Islands. The king refused his petition repeatedly. In
1517, a frustrated Magellan renounced his Portuguese nationality and relocated to Spain to seek
royal support for his venture.

When Magellan arrived in Seville in October 1517, he had no connections and spoke little
Spanish. He soon met another transplanted Portuguese named Diogo Barbosa, and within a year
he had married Barbosa’s daughter Beatriz, who gave birth to their son Rodrigo a year later. The
well-connected Barbosa family introduced Magellan to officers responsible for Spain’s maritime
exploration, and soon Magellan secured an appointment to meet the king of Spain.

The grandson of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, who had funded Christopher Columbus’s
expedition to the New World in 1492, received Magellan’s petition with the same favor shown
by his grandparents. Just 18 years old at the time, King Charles I granted his support to
Magellan, who in turn promised the young king that his westward sea voyage would bring
immeasurable riches to Spain.
Strait of Magellan
On August 10, 1519 Magellan bade farewell to his wife and young son, neither of whom he
would ever see again, and the Armada De Moluccas set sail. Magellan commanded the lead ship
Trinidad and was accompanied by four other ships: the San Antonio, the Conception, the
Victoria and the Santiago. The expedition would prove long and arduous, and only one ship, the
Victoria, would return home three years later, carrying a mere 18 of the fleet’s original crew of
270.

In September 1519 Magellan’s fleet sailed from Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Spain, and crossed the
Atlantic Ocean, which was then known simply as the Ocean Sea. The fleet reached South
America a little more than one month later. There the ships sailed southward, hugging the coast
in search of the fabled strait that would allow passage through South America. The fleet stopped
at Port San Julian where the crew mutinied on Easter Day in 1520. Magellan quickly quelled the
uprising, executing one of the captains and leaving another mutinous captain behind. Meanwhile
Magellan had sent the Santiago to explore the route ahead, where it was shipwrecked during a
terrible storm. The ship’s crew members were rescued and assigned out among the remaining
ships. With those disastrous events behind them, the fleet left Port San Julian five months later
when fierce seasonal storms abated.

On October 21, 1520 Magellan finally entered the strait that he had been seeking and that came
to bear his name. The voyage through the Strait of Magellan was treacherous and cold, and many
sailors continued to mistrust their leader and grumble about the dangers of the journey ahead. In
the early days of the navigation of the strait, the crew of the San Antonio forced its captain to
desert, and the ship turned and fled across the Atlantic Ocean back to Spain. At this point, only
three of the original five ships remained in Magellan’s fleet.

Magellan: Circumnavigating the Globe

After more than a month spent traversing the strait, Magellan’s remaining armada emerged in
November 1520 to behold a vast ocean before them. They were the first known Europeans to see
the great ocean, which Magellan named Mar Pacifico, the Pacific Ocean, for its apparent
peacefulness, a stark contrast to the dangerous waters of the strait from which he had just
emerged. In fact, extremely rough waters are not uncommon in the Pacific Ocean, where
tsunamis, typhoons and hurricanes have done serious damage to the Pacific Islands and Pacific
Rim nations throughout history.

Little was known about the geography beyond South America at that time, and Magellan
optimistically estimated that the trip across the Pacific would be rapid. In fact, it took three
months for the fleet to make its way slowly across the vast Mar Pacifico. The days dragged on as
Magellan’s crew anxiously waited to utter the magic words “Land, ho!” At last, the fleet reached
the Pacific island of Guam in March 1521, where they finally replenished their food stores.

Magellan’s fleet then sailed on to the Philippine archipelago landing on the island of Cebu,
where Magellan befriended the locals and, struck with a sudden religious zeal, sought to convert
them to Christianity. Magellan was now closer than ever to reaching the Spice Islands, but when
the Cebu asked for his help in fighting their neighbors on the island of Mactan, Magellan agreed.
He assumed he would command a swift victory with his superior European weapons, and against
the advice of his men, Magellan himself led the attack. The Mactanese fought fiercely, and
Magellan fell when he was shot with a poison arrow. Ferdinand Magellan died on April 27,
1521.

Magellan would never make it to the Spice Islands, but after the loss of yet another of his fleet’s
vessels, the two remaining ships finally reached the Moluccas on November 5, 1521. In the end,
only the Victoria completed the voyage around the world and arrived back in Seville, Spain, in
September 1522 with a heavy cargo of spices but with only 18 men from the original crew,
including Italian scholar and explorer Antonio Pigafetta. The journal Pigafaetta kept on the
voyage is a key record of what the crew encountered on their journey home.

Impact of Ferdinand Magellan

Seeking riches and personal glory, Magellan’s daring and ambitious voyage around the world
provided the Europeans with far more than just spices. Although the trip westward from Europe
to the east via the Strait of Magellan had been discovered and mapped, the journey was too long
and dangerous to become a practical route to the Spice Islands. Nevertheless, European
geographic knowledge was expanded immeasurably by Magellan’s expedition. He found not
only a massive ocean, hitherto unknown to Europeans, but he also discovered that the earth was
much larger than previously thought. Finally, although it was no longer believed that the earth
was flat at this stage in history, Magellan’s circumnavigation of the globe empirically discredited
the medieval theory conclusively.

Though Magellan is often credited with the first circumnavigation on the globe, he did so on a
technicality: He first made a trip from Europe to the Spice Islands, eastward via the Indian
Ocean, and then later made his famous westward voyage that brought him to the Philippines. So
he did cover the entire terrain, but it was not a strict point A to point A, round-the-world trip, and
it was made in two different directions. His slave, Enrique, however, was born in either Cebu or
Mallaca and came to Europe with Magellan by ship. Ten years later, he then returned to both
Cebu (with Magellan) and Mallaca (after Magellan died) by ship on the armada’s westward
route. So Enrique was the first person to circumnavigate the world in one direction, from point A
to point A.
7 Distinguished Filipino Heroes from Iloilo
Belle Piccio | Jan 26, 2016

Iloilo is a province rich in history. Iloilo is known for its historical landmarks or heritage sites
that are even recognized by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines or NHCP.
With all the landmarks and monuments scattered around the province, let us also get to know
some Ilonggos who made a mark in our Philippine history.

JUAN ARANETRA
General Juan Anacleto Araneta, also known as Don Juan, was
born on July 13, 1852 in Molo, Iloilo but the Aranetas moved and
settled permanently at Negros. 

Don Juan was one of the leaders of the Negros Revolution, the
event that took place on November 5, 1898 known as “Cinco de
Noviembre.” 

Don Juan married four times and had a total of 25 children. He

died on October 3, 1924 at the age of 72. At Bago City, Negros
Occidental, you'll find a life-size monument of Gen. Juan Araneta on
horseback and within the foundation lies his remains.

GRACEANO LOPEZ JAENA

Graciano Lopez Jaena was born on December 18,
1856 in Iloilo. He was a journalist, great revolutionary hero
and orator. He is also known as the founder of the fortnightly
newspaper, La Solidaridad.

Graciano is noted by Philippine historians as

part of the triumvirate of Filipino propagandists
alongside with Marcelo H. del Pilar and Jose Rizal.
He died in poverty on January 20, 1896 of
tuberculosis at an unmarked grave in Barcelona.

The Jaro Plaza where you can also find a statue of him was
renamed Graciano Lopez Jaena Park in honor of him.
Graciano’s birth anniversary is commemorated with a public
holiday in the whole Iloilo province.
 ANICETO LACSON
Aniceto Ledesma Lacson was born on April 17, 1857 in
Molo, Iloilo. He was known as a revolutionary general and
businessman.

Aniceto Lacson via en.wikipilipinas.org

Aniceto was one of the leaders of the Negros

Revolution alongside with Juan Araneta. The Negros Island
Spanish Governor surrendered on November 6, 1898 at
Bacolod to them. He was also noted as the President of the
short-lived The Cantonal Republic of Negros from
November 27, 1898 until March 4, 1899.

Aniceto married twice. He died on February 3, 1931

in Talisay, Negros Occidental at the age of 73 leaving
behind a large family with a total of 21 children.

MARTIN DELGADO
Martin Teofilo Delgado was born on November 11,
1858 at Santa Barbara, Iloilo. He was a soldier, a military
leader during the Philippine Revolution and Philippine-
American War, a politician as the first civilian governor of
Iloilo province, and a revolutionary hero.

Gen. Martin Delgado, seated at the center, as Governor of Iloilo

Province when the photo was taken in 1903 via
philippineamericanwar.com 

Martin became the General-in-Chief of the Liberating Army

when Sta. Barbara turned into the center of revolution in
Visayas. Gen. Martin spent his last years in a leprosy sanitarium at
Culion Island as a superintendent. He died on November 12, 1918 in
Culion, Palawan at the age of 60.

During the Philippine Centennial celebrations in 1998, a statue was erected in his honor in the
town square of Santa Barbara, Iloilo.
 TERESA MAGBANUA
Teresa Ferraris Magbanua was born on October 13,
1868 in Pototan, Iloilo. Dubbed as the “Visayan Joan of Arc”,
Nanay Isa was a school teacher and became a military leader.
She's the first woman in Panay to fight in the Philippine
Revolution and earned the distinction of being the only woman
to lead combat troops in the Visayas against Spanish and
American forces.

At the end of World War II, Nanay Isa moved to

Mindanao with her sister. She died a widow on August 1947 at
the age of 78 at Pagadian, Zamboanga del Sur

ADRIANO HERNANDEZ
Adriano Dayot Hernandez was born on September 8, 1870
in Dingle, Iloilo. He was a Filipino revolutionary and military
strategist during the Philippine Revolution and Philippine-
American War. 

Adriano Hernandez in 1916 via en.wikipedia.org

Adriano was known as the leader of the first armed uprising

for independence in Iloilo province called the “Cry of Lincud.” The
event happened on October 28, 1898 at Barrio Lincud in Dingle,
Iloilo. He died on February 16, 1925 at the age of 54.

The headquarters of the 301st Infantry Brigade of the Philippine Army in Dingle, Iloilo,
the Camp General Adriano Hernandez, was named in his honor.

QUINTIN SALAS
Quintin Salas was born October 31, 1870 in Dumangas, Iloilo.
He was a revolutionary leader is among the last Visayan revolutionist
to surrender to the Americans.

  Colonel Quintin Dicen Salas via  cpcabrisbane.org

Gen. Quintin led the battles for independence in Dumangas

and the towns of Banate, Barotac Nuevo, Pototan and Passi in Iloilo.
He died on January 24, 1917.