Following the heartbreaking demolition news of heritage sites like Escolta’s Capitol Theater and Binondo’s Hospicio de San Jose building, we somehow feel a sense of relief after hearing that the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) has completed the conservation of Paoay Church’s exteriors recently.
Also called the St. Augustine Church, the baroque church is declared as a National Cultural Treasure by the Philippine government and a UNESCO World Heritage Site as well.
Despite the pandemic, NHCP pushed through with the repairs of the Ilocos landmark’s exteriors, which began in the second quarter of 2019.
Focusing on the historic stone masonry walls and buttresses of the church which serve as some of its key Baroque period elements, part of NHCP’s conservation project is to remove large plants and shrubs to protect the exterior from stone erosion and lime grout loss.
“Now, the walls are properly grouted to instill material protection but remain plaster-less to retain the recent memory of the walls with exposed stonework,” the commission announced.
Additionally, they said, “One major structural repair done was the stairway in the bell tower, which has been inaccessible and dilapidated for several years. The entire roof system was also rehabilitated.”
Meanwhile, the repairs on the interiors of Paoay Church are currently ongoing and expected to be completed by the end of the year.
Although two major earthquakes had damaged some portions of the church, it stood strong in Ilocos Norte and later underwent restoration.
Header photo: “Paoay Church-009-IMGP1377” by IlocosNorte is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
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