Santa Maria Church

Nuestra Señora de la Asunción at Santa Maria is the odd one among the four UNESCO baroque churches: instead of facing a plaza in the middle of town, it sits alone on a hill, surrounded by a defensive wall, reached by a brick stairway of eighty-odd steps from the road below. It was built that way on purpose in the early nineteenth century - the site is a natural strongpoint, the church served as a fortress during the 1896 revolution, and the whole complex reads more like a citadel than a parish church, with the bell tower standing separately and a cemetery chapel on the slope behind. The brickwork is plain and massive, the buttresses heavy, and the ornament restrained compared with Paoay or Miagao. From the terrace the view runs out over the town and the surrounding fields. The climb is the price of admission and it is a warm one at midday.

History

The parish began in 1567 as a visita of Narvacan, the town to the north, and as settlers poured in after the Spanish conquest of Ilocos it became an independent ministry in 1769, dedicated to Our Lady of the Assumption, and the centre of religious and commercial life on the narrow plain between the sea and the mountains. Legend says the image of the Virgin, first enshrined at a place called Bulala, kept vanishing and turning up in a guava tree on the present hilltop, so the people moved the church there. On 11 December 1993 it became one of the four Baroque Churches of the Philippines on the World Heritage List (Wikipedia, Santa Maria Church (Ilocos Sur)).

What you'll find

• The brick stairway - the long climb from the road.
• The walled hilltop - the fortress-like enclosure.
• The detached bell tower - standing clear of the church.
• The terrace view - the town and fields below.

When to go

November to May. Early morning or late afternoon for the climb - the stairway is fully exposed. Weekday mornings are quiet.

Practical notes

The stairway is the only way up and it is steep. The church is a working parish with services. Facilities are minimal and there is no shade on the terrace.

Nearby

Vigan is about forty minutes north; Bantay's bell tower is on the way.

Key facts