A Philippines Travel Destination For The History Books: Vigan, Ilocos Sur

One perfect Philippines travel destination for history buffs is the city of Vigan in Ilocos Sur. Vigan City is the capital of Ilocos Sur, a province that is 400 kilometers from Manila. Despite its distance, you won’t regret traveling to this UNESCO World Heritage Site because it will give you a true glimpse of how a Spanish colonial town looked like in the 16th century. It is a well-preserved site despite the flourishing of the times.

While in this travel destination in the Philippines, you can go see old colonial houses that were once occupied by affluent Chinese businessmen. House construction then involved using thick bricks and red clay for walls and tiles for the roofs. Visiting these houses will surely bring you back into a time that was. The St. Paul’s Cathedral should also be on your itinerary when visiting Vigan. It was built in the late 16th century by Augustinians monks. It has 12 altars which brings the overall grandeur of the church a notch higher. And not to be missed is the bell tower just 10 meters south of the church.

One other place of interest in this Philippines travel destination is the Palacio de Arzobispado. It is the official residence of the archbishop and served as the headquarters of Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo. It also houses a museum which has a wide collection of paintings, religious articles, manuscripts, and more. Another museum, the Burgos National Museum can also give you a chance to retrace history once again.

Vigan is best visited during its fiesta because of the various entertaining and religious activities conducted. Tourists also have a fondness of visiting this Philippines travel destination during the Holy Week to see antique and life-sized statues during the procession.

You can get to Vigan City by a taking a bus or a plane to Laoag City. From there, you may need to board another bus to get to Vigan, however, there are buses which ply the route directly. Accommodations are not a problem since there are many ancestral houses that serve as inns and hotels in the city.

Vigan Municipal Government website: http://www.vigancity.gov.ph