The Basilica of San Sebastian.

In 1621 a pious couple donated their vast estate where the Recollects established a convent and a church. During an uprising in 1639 the Church was looted and set on fire. The repaired Church suffered again from a terrible earthquake in 1645 and then again in1859, 1863 and 1880. In 1881, Don Palacios, director of public works, inspected the church and came up with the recommendation to build a steel church that could withstand future earthquakes.

The novel idea was approved by the Recollects. Palacios himself was commissioned to design the proposed steel church. The Gothic revival design was approved in 1883. Finally, in 1886, the Societe Anonyme d’Entreprise de Travaux Publics in Brussels, BELGIUM, was awarded the contract to undertake the construction of this church. 

The steel parts with a total weight of 1,527 tons were manufactured in Binche. On June 12, 1888, the ship William Burkitt docked in Manila bringing with it the first shipment of steel parts for the church. For two years, the Church was assembled with local artists and craftsmen joining the Belgian engineers. In 1891 the all steel church was inaugurated.

Some people would love a connection with Eiffel alas there is no proof he was involved in this project.

Click image to enlarge.

Those are old pictures that I took with my first digital camera. I was also too lazy to remove all the electrical wires in Photoshop. Sorry about that...

Comments

[Ashish Sidapara]

Superb series Sidney, love the interior shots!

[don]

An elegant church. The wires are part of the setting. :-) I've tried to remove wires like this and it becomes a tiring task! Nice series.

[Ruth]

Absolutely magnificent! Never saw anything like it. The color, dove grey, is so soothing and sweet. And steel!

The wires don't bother me a bit.

[ghee]

The Basilica of San Sebastian is an astounding church!!I cant agree more :)

its good that you put a signature in every pic of yours,Sidney :)

[vera]

and i m wondering if steel construction as this one could resist to a earthquake... but a miracle.. no earthquake since the new steel-church, a sign of God, isn't it??:-)

[vera]

owing to you, discover this amazing church, and around the muslim mosque too- very happy of this walk- of course , don t remove the wires, it belongs to these urban kiapo or Manila or Philippines ...landscapes... i m rather amazing with these huge web-wires..everywhere!

[Ricardo]

An authentic wonder.
Congratulations.
Greetings.

[Toe]

That is one of my favorite churches Sydney and your photos are awesome! Hey... so we Filipinos have a relation with Belgium! :)

[siratus]

Hello, Sidney.
J'imagine le travail titanesque d'enlever tous les cables électriques de clichés des villes Philippines !
Sous l'eau, je n'ai pas cette difficulté là...de toute manière, je ne sais pas me servir de Adobe Photoshop...
Tous les styles d'églises existent, mais j'ignorais que celle-ci était belge et métallique ! Gros bisous :0010:

[Still]

Electrical wire are often important elements of the cityscapes....

[haggis basher]

I love the interior shot of the church. The noise in the image works to its advantage.

[kikomeister]

the shot of the altar is magnificent!

[Jio]

Well, we can't do anything about the wires there, as Manila is so full of these.

Anyway, the basilica is still majestic to behold. Nice pictures!

[Fénix (Bostonscapes)]

Exquisite inside and out. Amazing what city planners where able to accomplish back then, isn't it?

I don't mind the wires, btw. They also tell a story :).

[Ces]

So where is this church and why is it empty? Is it too nice for the common people?

[iRonnie]

i am sorry for the wires too. i also noticed those when i visited this church. a real scene breaker.

[Hildegarde]

A church of steel, that's special. The electrical wires : that's always a problem, isn't it ? It's like traffic signs or lots of parked cars. Remove them or accept it as a typical item of our time period ?

[John]

Some fine shots and nice colour. I like the interior shot (great light) and the window the best.

[dennis]

I've been to San Sebastian many times, but I've never entered the church. This is actually the first time I've seen the interior. Beautiful. Thanks for sharing :)

[RennyBA]

What an interesting story and great engineer work. As a local of course you know all this :-)

[Ladybug]

Amazing architecture, and gorgeous stained glass! Gorgeous shots, Sidney. I don't mind the wires, either. :)

[pieterbie]

Amazing, a Belgium organisation building a church in the Philippines. Looks like an impressive construction as well.

[Rach (Heart of Rachel)]

Magnificent photos! It's a remarkable church.