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Towns and Cities

SINAIT


  • The Sto. Cristo Milagroso Church, damaged in the earthquake of 1620, was burned in 1760 and finished between 1760 and 1822. Damaged by typhoon in 1953, it was repaired in 1960. The church houses the miraculous 17th century, life-size Miraculous Crucifix of the Black Nazarene or Apo Sto. Cristo Milagroso de Sinait (or Apo Lakay).
  • An old, well-preserved and hexagonal Spanish-era watchtower (baluarte)
  • Aran Cave
  • Cabangtalan Beach - Brgy. Cabangtalan
  • Marcos Beach - Brgy. Sabangan
  • Pikkan Falls
  • Miraculous Shrine at Logo
  • Sabang Beach

SUGPON

SUYO


  • The Left Angalo Footprint Lake, at Sitio Tapao, Poblacion, is a depression said to have been made by Angalo, the mythical Ilocano giant.
  • Church Cave (Sitio Nabantey)
  • Dawara Waterfalls (where a mini-hydro power plant was erected)
  • Ida Mountain Caves (Ida)
  • Lipit Stone Tower (Sitio Timmorre)

TAGUDIN


  • The present stone and brick Church of St. Augustine, started in 1796, was continued in 1816 and finished in 1832.  It was restored in 1880.  The slender belfry was built in 1881. The church is 66.8 m. (40 brazas) long and 14.19 m. (18.5 brazas) wide.
  • The convent, built in 1832, is now used as a school run by the Immaculate Conception of Mary Sisters.
  • In front of the town hall is a Spanish-era sundial, built in 1845, and one of two built (the other, within the St. Augustine School campus, at the back of the church, was built in 1841).  One of the few existing in the country, it is still in good use.
  • The 200-m. long Ambalayat Hanging Bridge (Brgy. Ambalayat)
  • Baracbac Falls (Brgy. Baracbac)
  • Farola Lighthouse (Brgy. Farola)
  • pagdapilan (a sugar mill powered by a carabao to extract the juice from the cane to produce basi, vinegar and molasses).

VIGAN CITY


  • The Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Conversion of St. Paul the Apostle, at the cor. of Quezon Ave. and Nueva Segovia St., was first built by Augustinian friars in 1574 and again in 1641 but was destroyed during the 1615 and 1627 earthquakes.  A reconstructed church was destroyed by fire in 1739.  The current cream and white Earthquake Baroque-style church was started on January 31, 1790 and was completed in 1800. Inside are three naves, 12 altars and a choir loft.
  • Its 3-storey, octagonal Italian Baroque bell tower, on a square base, was built from 1790 to 1800 and stands separately, 15 m. south of the cathedral, in Plaza Burgos.
  • The Governor's Mansion, a private residence with a beautiful façade, is located at the cor. of Mabini and V. de los Reyes Sts.
  • The triangular Leona Florentino Plaza, at the cor. of Plaza Burgos, contains the memorial to the famous playwright and poetess and mother of local hero Isabelo de los Reyes.
  • Plaza Burgos, located at the south side of St. Paul's Cathedral and the old seminario (which burned down in 1968), contains a monument to the martyred priest, Fr. Jose Burgos. A favorite promenade for both local folk and foreign tourists due to its ambiance, it also has a number of kiosks and eateries offering local delicacies like empanada, okoy, bagnet (local version of the crispy pata) and pinakbet (vegetable stew).
  • The elevated, elliptical Plaza Salcedo, separating the Capitol and cathedral, contains the 17th century obelisk monument to Juan de Salcedo, the oldest of its kind in Northern Luzon, as well as statues of Jose Rizal and Elpidio Quirino.  It is also the site of Gabriela Silang's public hanging in 1763.
  • Plaza Singson Encarnacion adjoins the Provincial Capitol.
  • Mira Hill Park, at the cor. of Gomez and Rizal Sts., Brgy. Pagburnayan, is located just beyond the jar factories.  Also called the Vigan Tourist Park, this municipal ecological park has an American-era circular water reservoir at the peak of the hill that still provides tap water to the poblacion residents.
  • The University of Northern Philippines, in Brgy. Tamag, is located on the road to Caoayan.
  • The Arzobispado, located adjacent to the Vigan Cathedral, was built from 1783 to 1790.   It is the Episcopalian seat of the diocese of Nueva Segovia and the palace features sliding capiz windows and cut out decorations with floral motifs. Tel: 722-2018.
  • The Gregoria Rivera Memorial Library, at the cor. of Quezon Ave. and L. Florentino St., was built in 1657 to house the municipal jail.  It was repaired in 1855.  It is the birthplace (November 16, 1890) of the late president Quirino.  The building was then the provincial jail of Ilocos Sur and Quirino's father was jail warden there. The jail was seized by revolutionists led by Col. Juan Villamor in 1898 and was later taken over by the Americans who detained Mena Crisologo, Estanislao Rayes and Enrique Quema here. It was converted into a library on October 27, 1948 and was named in honor of Pres. Elpidio Quirino's mother.
  • An old baluarte (watchtower) is also located in Brgy. Salindeg.
  • The Simbahan a Bassit Cemetery, blessed on November 9, 1852, contains the graves of the town's eminent families.   Its chapel has a façade supported by rectangular columns and an espadaña (a wall with holes in which bells are hung), the only one of its kind in the entire region.  Started in 1610, it was probably the first church built with permanent materials in the Ilocos.  Its floors, made mostly of granite slabs, where formerly used as ballast by Chinese trading junks and left behind on the return trip to China.  The chapel houses the image of Christ on the Cross, a crucifix, behind the main altar, almost as old as the chapel itself.  Renowned for its miraculous cures, the image is reverently called Apo Lakay, Ilocano for “old man.”
  • Public beaches can be found in the coastal barangays of Mindoro and San Pedro.  They include Fuerte Beach, Mindoro Beach (Brgy. Mindoro) and Pandan Beach.
  • The two-storey, 422-sq. m. Burgos House, at the cor. of Plaza Singson Encarnacion and Burgos Sts., was built in 1788 by Don Juan de Gonzales and his wife Doña Florentina Gascon.  Martyred priest Fr. Jose A. Burgos was born here on February 9, 1837.  This ancestral house was later sold to Don Mena Crisologo and its ground floor housed the post office until 1932 and the branch office of the Philippine National Bank from 1946 to 1965.  Dr. Marciano Crisologo (son of Mena) inherited the estate and his heirs sold it to the Insular Life Assurance Co. on August 22, 1970.  Don Enrique Zobel of the Ayala Corp. established the Ilocos Sur Museum with Ms. Perlita Foz as curator.  In 1986, the Ayalas then turned over the museum to the Ilocos Historical and Cultural Foundation. It was turned over to the National Museum on January 1989. Now the National Museum, at the ground floor is a Hall of Fame of Ilocano heroes and achievers, dioramas of local historical events, Filipiniana costumes, and Tingguian, looms for abel weaving, farming and fishing implements and Ilocano ethnic arts and crafts (burnay products, etc.).  There are also scaled models of two trading ships.  Upstairs are antique collections and memorabilia of the Burgos family and other period pieces and heirlooms. On the walls are a priceless collection of 14 Esteban Villanueva canvasses depicting bloody events of the 1807 Basi Revolt.
  • The Crisologo House, along Liberation Blvd., was a former branch museum of the National Museum. This typical Vigan ancestral home located between Quezon Ave. and Gov. A. Reyes St., contains the memorabilia and antique collections of the Crisologo family.
  • The Leona Florentino House, along Mena Crisologo St., was built in 1797 by Don Marcelo Pichay (cabeza actual of the Mestizo District) and wife Doña Maria Estefania over the ruins of their house destroyed by fire.  It is now the Provincial Tourism Center and administrative building of the Vigan Heritage Commission.
  • The Quema House, at the cor. of Liberation Blvd. and Quirino Blvd., is a 1830s vintage house owned by Chinese trader Don Enrique Quema.
  • The R.F. Aniceto Mansion, at 1 Mena Crisologo St., was built by Don Marcelino Florentino y Pichay (father of Leona Florentino) in 1840.  It was also the home of Gov. Mena Crisologo y Pichay and historian and writer Isabelo de los Reyes.   The house was sold to Dr. Rodolfo Fabis Aniceto on July 8, 1988.  It was repaired and restored without altering its original design, retaining its old nadrille bricks, teja roofing and capiz windows.  It is now a tourist inn.
  • The Syquia Mansion, at the cor. of Quirino Blvd. and Salcedo St., was built in 1830.  It was the ancestral home of Chinese merchant Doña Alicia Syquia Quirino and the residence of the late president Elpidio Quirino.  It contains antique furniture and an impressive collection of Quirino memorabilia.
  • The Villa Angela Heritage House, at 26 Quirino Blvd., one of the earliest structures in the city, was built in 1870 by gobernadorcillo Agapito Florendo y Bonifacio.  It is now a showcase of the colonial past and considered one of its inhabited museums. The local films Jose Rizal, Gumising Ka Maruja and Noli me Tangere as well as the mini-series Ana Karenina were shot here.
  • Casa Feliza - Florentino St.
  • V. Singson Encarnacion House - V. de los Reyes St..
  • The Museo San Pablo, beside the Arzobispado, showcases ecclesiastical artifacts, antique portraits of bishops, a throne room, arch-diocesan archives and other religious paraphernalia gathered from various colonial churches all over the province.

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