3 of 4 UNESCO's Baroque Churches : Santa Maria Church, Ilocos Sur

I haven't told you that I was planning to quit my job to change my career and be a full pledge teacher in another country. Everything was well planned and I was thankful to Apo that He made things possible. One of the things that I included in my plan was to travel in Japan again for multiple visa and there I was granted and went in Japan last March. Click Here!

Aside from that is to visit Ilocos again to see my Uncle and to accompany my Mom. Since, I was still employed in my company that time, I asked for vacation leave approval and was approved for a couple of days. Thank you to my former boss! 

A lot of you already know that one of the reasons why I travel is to see UNESCO Sites. Since, my parents are from Ilocos and there are 2 UNESCOs that I haven't visited in Ilocos I decided to see these 2 before I searched for more in South East Asia. So, with the help of my officemate and one of my travel buddies, Raph, who specializes in traveling up north and loves long bus rides, we met in Batac and head our way down south of Ilocandia. 

It was hot but the weather did not stop us from going to Ilocos Sur. We rode a bus from Batac going to Manila and dropped us off on Seven Eleven Santa Maria for our first destination. 

Our first stop was Church of Our Lady of the Assumption or known as Santa Maria Church located in Santa Maria, Ilocos Sur. 

Santa Maria Church is part of the four Baroque churches of the Philippines - UNESCO World Heritage Site, which also include Paoay Church in Ilocos Norte, Miag-ao Church in Iloilo and San Agustin Church in Manila. The church is erected at the top of the hill with an overlooking view of the town of Santa Maria. You can reach the church by tricycle from Seven Eleven or walking and climbing the 85 steps granite stairway. There is also the red bricks bell tower separated from the church. 

The church became a famous location of different movies like Maruja of Carmina Villaroel and Rustom Padilla and travel documentaries.

Inside the Church

It took Raph and I to observed the church for an hour. Taking pictures from different angles and checking all sides of it. The view at the back of the church, you will see the beautiful mountains. After that, we decided to go to our next destination. Prior to that, we saw a small red brick structure and decided to investigate. It's inside Santa Maria East Elementary School. One of the man we saw on the school's premise told us that the red brick structure is part of the main church. It was the old Santa Maria Chapel. It is now used as one of the classrooms of the school. 

Beside the stairway is a grotto and a lot of religious people of this town can pray here.

Grotto

Old Santa Maria Chapel

Raph and Moi - Santa Maria Church - Checked