Monastery of the Transfiguration

The Monastery of the Transfiguration sits on a hill outside Malaybalay in Bukidnon, a Benedictine community founded in 1983 whose church, inaugurated on 6 August 1996, was designed by Leandro Locsin, the National Artist responsible for the Cultural Center of the Philippines - a stark pyramid of concrete rising from the grass, entered up a long flight of steps, with a plain interior lit from above, a main altar cut from a volcanic boulder found near the abbey, and the plateau spreading out beyond. Locsin drew the shape from Ifugao huts; before it, the community worshipped in three small pyramids of 1983 by Cecilio Maceren. It is one of the most striking modern religious buildings in the country and completely unlike the colonial architecture that dominates Philippine church tourism. The monks run a coffee operation, and Monk's Blend from their plantation is sold at the shop along with monastic produce, and a two-storey museum shows the liturgical vestments made by a resident monk; the highlands around Malaybalay are good coffee country. Visitors are welcome in the church and grounds, with the usual expectation of quiet in a working monastery, and the drive up through Bukidnon's pineapple and cattle country is pleasant in itself.

Highlights

• The pyramid church - Locsin's concrete design on the hill.
• The stepped approach - the long climb to the entrance.
• The plain interior - top-lit and unornamented.
• The monastery shop - the community's coffee and produce.

When to go

Year-round; February to May is driest. Mornings are cool at this altitude. Visits fit around the monastic hours, so quiet is expected.

Things to know

It is a working monastery - silence in the church and restricted access to the community's areas. There are many steps. Facilities are the shop and little else.

Nearby

Malaybalay is fifteen minutes away; the Kitanglad range rises to the west and Cagayan de Oro is two hours north.

Key facts