San Sebastian Basilica

After earlier churches on the site collapsed in earthquakes, the Recollect friars tried something else: a church of steel. The sections were made in Europe, shipped to Manila in crates and bolted together, and the building was finished in 1891. From outside it is a slim twin-spired Gothic Revival church painted pale grey-green; inside, every column, rib and vault is metal, painted to imitate marble, jasper and stone so convincingly that most visitors do not notice until they knock on a pillar. Stained glass fills the aisles. Salt air and Manila's humidity have been eating the structure for over a century, and conservation work is more or less permanent.

History

In 1621 Bernardino Castillo, a devotee of Saint Sebastian, gave the land; the first wooden church burned in 1651, and later brick churches fell to fire and earthquakes in 1859, 1863 and 1880. The parish priest Esteban Martínez asked the architect Genaro Palacios for a church that could withstand earthquakes, and 52 metric tons of steel sections made in Binche, Belgium, arrived in eight shipments; the church became a minor basilica on 24 June 1890 and was consecrated on 16 August 1891 (Wikipedia, San Sebastian Church (Manila)).

Highlights

• The steel columns - painted to look like marble and jasper; tap one and it rings.
• The ribbed vaults - riveted metal arches overhead, the rivet lines visible under the paint.
• The stained glass - deep colour in the aisles, some panels replaced, some original.
• The twin spires - slim Gothic towers rising straight out of a dense Quiapo street.

When to go

Weekday mornings, when the light through the aisle windows is best and the church is open but not busy. December to May is drier; Quiapo floods in heavy rain. Avoid the second week of January, when the surrounding district is closed off for the Black Nazarene procession and moving anywhere near here is impossible.

Practical notes

The paint is flaking, rust stains run down the walls and parts of the interior are usually under scaffolding or netting. It sits in one of Manila's densest and grittiest districts, with heavy traffic and no parking, and the approach is not pleasant on foot in the heat. Keep bags closed. Restoration funding is patchy, so expect work in progress rather than a finished monument.

Nearby

Quiapo Church and its market streets are ten minutes away; Intramuros is a short ride southwest.

Key facts