PRIDE OF THE PHILIPPINES: VIGAN (Ilocos Sur) NAMED AS ONE OF THE NEW 7 WONDER CITIES OF THE WORLD … THIS UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE (Vigan) EARNS THE NEW DISTINCTION OF BEING ONE OF THE SEVEN MOST INCREDIBLE CITIES OF THE WORLD The City of Vigan (Ilokano: Ciudad ti Bigan; Tagalog: Lungsod ng Vīgân) is a fourth class city in Ilocos Sur in Northern Luzon, The Philippines. The capital of the Province of Ilocos Sur, Vigan is located on the western coast of the large island of Luzon, facing the South China Sea. According to the 2010 Philippine census, Vigan has a population of 49,747 people. It is a World Heritage Site in that it is “one of the few Hispanic towns left in the Philippines” where its structures remain intact, and is well known for its cobblestone streets and Spanish-designed houses and small buildings alongside, a unique architecture that fuses Philippine and Oriental building designs and construction, with the unique touch of colonial European architecture. Because of this, Vigan City was officially recognized as one of the NEW 7 Wonder Cities of the World, together with Beirut, Doha, Durban, Havana, Kuala Lumpur, and La Paz. Former President Elpidio Syquia Quirino, the sixth president of the Philippines, was born in Vigan at the current location of the Provincial Jail (where his father served as a warden); he resided in the very distinct Syquia Mansion. The area of Vigan was originally a settlement of traders coming from the Fujian Province, China. At the time of Spanish colonization, the Chinese settlers, whose language was Southern Fujianese (Min Nan, often referred to as Hokkien by most Filipinos), referred to the area as Bee Gan (Chinese: 美岸; pinyin: Měiàn), which means Beautiful Shore … Since the Spanish conquistadors interchanged the letter V for B to refer to the B sound, they spelled the Hokkien Chinese name Bee Gan as Vigan, which caught on, thus, the name that is used by the Northern Philippines city to this day. Vigans Chinese heritage is still evident from the numerous elite Chinese creole families who come from the area, many of whom adopted Hispanic family names. Others, such as the Sy-Quia family, have retained Chinese-derived surnames, though most, if not all, of the Christian Chinese creole families fully ‘Hispanicised’ themselves culturally. The most commonly known source of the citys name is from the Bigaa plant, which once grew abundantly along the banks of the Mestizo River, from which Spanish captain Juan de Salcedo derived the citys name (after a misunderstanding with the locals, thinking he was asking for the name of the plants). OTHER NAMES The citys full name at the time of its Spanish foundation was Villa Fernandina, or Town of Ferdinand, in honor of Prince Ferdinand, the firstborn son of King Philip II of Spain after whom The Philippines was named … As the city grew, and the seat of the Archdiocese of Nueva Segovia transferred to Vigan, it was later renamed Ciudad Fernandina de Vigan (Ferdinands City of Vigan). Due to silting of the Mestizo River, Vigan City is no longer an ‘island’ and no longer separated from the mainland. The city is unique in the Philippines because it is one of many extensive surviving Philippine historic cities, dating back to the 16th century. Long before the Spaniards arrived in 1572 thereabout, Vigan was a coastal trading post; while Chinese traders sailing from the South China Sea came to Isla de Vigan (Island of Vigan) via the Mestizo River that surrounded it. On board their ships were seafaring merchants who came to trade goods from other Asian kingdoms in exchange for gold, beeswax, and other mountain products brought by the indigenous people from the Cordilleras region. In the book The Philippine Island (Vol. III, p. 276, Blair and Robertson), two letters from Governor General Guido de Lavezaris sent to King Philip II of Spain mentioned: It seemed best to send Captain Juan de Salcedo with 70 or 80 soldiers to explore the coast of Los Ilocanos on the shores of the river called Bigan. … The Spaniards marched north from Manila on May 20, 1572 and arrived in Vigan on June 12, 1572. Thus, after the successful expedition and the exploration of the North, Juan de Salcedo founded Villa Fernandina de Vigan in honor of King Philip II’s son, Prince Ferdinand, who died at the age of four. From Vigan, Salcedo rounded the tip of Luzón and proceeded to pacify the provinces of Camarines, Albay, and Catanduanes. As a reward for his services to the King Philip II of Spain, Captain Juan de Salcedo was awarded the old province of Ilocos, which consisted of the modern provinces of Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Abra, La Unión and part of Mountain Province, as his hacienda (estate), and was accorded the title of Justicia Mayor de esta Provincia de Ylocos (Province Mayor of the Ilocos). In the year 1574, Juan de Salcedo returned to the capital of his encomienda (trusteeship), Vigan, bringing with him his soldiers and some Augustinian missionaries to pioneer the evangelization of the Ilocos region. He established a Spanish city for the purpose of controlling the neighboring country. Governor General Gómez Pérez Dasmariñas, in his account of encomienda dated in Manila on May 31, 1591, states: The town of Vigan, then called Villa Fernandina, consisted of Spanish settlers; a priest; a Justice Alcalde Mayor (Governor); and a Deputy. The King collects 800 tributes (equivalent to 3,200 subjects). … During this period, Vigan was composed of 19 barrios (districts). Between the years 1645 and 1660, Vigan was divided into 21 Cabezas de Barrio (Town Mayors) as mentioned in the Libro de Casamiento (Book of Marriage), and from the records of the parish house of Vigan found in its archives. Separated from the indigenous population, the Chinese migrants were residents in a neighborhood called El Pariancillo, los Sangleyes del Parian (The Sangleyes of the Parian, Sangley an archaic term used during the Spanish Colonial Period to describe and classify a person of pure Chinese Ancestry); and the Spanish settlers were residents in a town called Los Españoles de la Villa (The Town Spaniards). On the other hand, the Chinese immigrants and their descendants played important roles in the development of the Philippines as nation, contributing to trade, culture and politics. Today, Filipinos widely use the term Tsinito (from Spanish word Chinito which literally means little Chinese man) to refer to a person of Chinese and other East Asian ancestries (Japanese, Korean, etc.). Many mestizo de sangley prefer to be identified simply, though, as mestizo. The Chinese had entered the Philippines as traders for years prior to Spanish colonization, but that development increased some work and business opportunities. Many emigrated to the Philippines, establishing concentrated communities first in Manila, then in other cities. During the Philippine Revolution, revolutionary forces under Manuel Tinio, supported by the Ilocano rebels, attacked and defeated the Spanish colonial forces and captured the city in the ‘Siege of Vigan’. At the time of the Philippine-American War, American forces led by Commander McCracken and Lt. Col. James Parker occupied the town in November 1899. In World War II, Japanese Imperial Army planes bombed Vigan on December 1941 and Japanese troops occupied the town in 1942. In 1945, combined U.S. and Philippine Commonwealth ground troops, aided by Ilocano resistance fighters, defeated the Japanese Imperial forces and liberated the city of Vigan. In the 2010 movie “Iliw” created and directed by Bonda Fajardo, Japanese Colonel Takahashi and Fr. Joseph Klecamf protected Vigan from being burned by the Japanese Army or saved from being attacked by the U.S. Army. In 1999 Vigan City was listed by UNESCO as “the best preserved example of Spanish colonial towns in Asia” … Its architecture is the conglomeration of cultural elements from the Philippines, China, and Spain, making it unique in the world. URBAN STRUCTURES When Juan de Salcedo founded Vigan in 1572, he decided to pattern its urban plan with that of Intramuros, the walled city in Manila. There were not many to copy from as Vigan or Ciudad Fernandina, as it was earlier named, was amongst the earliest settlements built by the Spaniards in the country. The urban planners of the Spanish government also followed a basic pattern that can be observed in most old towns in the country, whose establishment dates back to the Spanish colonial period. This pattern is detailed in the Ley de las Indias, the Law of the Indies, and was put into force in the 18th century. Under the Law of the Indies streets were to follow a grid pattern, the center of which being a plaza or central park. In Vigan, the central park is the Plaza de Salcedo. Next to it are the administrative buildings — the Casa Real or provincial administrative office, and the municipio (municipal hall). A stones throw away are the religious buildings — the seminary of the archdiocese, the Arzobispado (Archbishops Palace), and the St. Pauls Cathedral. Beside these religious structures is the church-run school, the Saint Paul College, known in its early days as the Colegio de Niñas. (It is currently being occupied by a retail store chain.) A unique city feature is another plaza, the Plaza Burgos, which is immediately beside the St. Pauls Cathedral. After the first tier emanating from Plaza Salcedo are the houses of prominent residents that now make up the preserved heritage houses of Vigan. This urban plan remained relatively intact untiltoday despite wars and natural calamities that have been endured by Vigan since its foundation. The major changes to the original urban landscape were caused by fires. The Casa Real was replaced with a provincial capitol building during the American period when the original structure burned down. The archdiocese seminary was also destroyed by fire in 1968, and it lay in ruins until the late 1990s, when part of a shopping mall was built, instead, on the site. The residential areas were not spared. Some of the houses on Crisologo Street were casualties of fire during the Japanese period; several houses on Quezon Avenue were destroyed by fire as well in 1952; while in 1971, some houses near Plaza Burgos likewise were burned down. However, the houses along Crisologo Street that were burned, were later reconstructed faithfully following the architecture and design of the former structures. At the present time, there are other major areas of people activities besides those in the two plazas where most recreation and shopping establishments are found. One may also go to the southern part of the city to reach the commercial area and public market. The present-day public market is a new structure, as the old one (formerly the Imelda Socio-Commercial Complex) on the same site, was likewise razed down by fire. The very first public market, found in the center of the business district, is now the site of new commercial buildings and of a tricycle-for-hire terminal. # (Ref: Wikipedia. Additional information and copy-editing by Louis G. Valenzuela.)
Posted on: Tue, 09 Dec 2014 01:32:43 +0000
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