A Spanish legacy remains in Vigan

Vigan, a small city in the northern part of Luzon, Philippines, is known for its unique Filipino-Oriental-Spanish architecture. A historic city from the 16th century, it was first popular with Chinese merchants who came to trade with the indigenous mountain people, and then with Spaniards who came to evangelize and conquer the country. It is inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, for being one of the best-preserved Spanish colonial towns in Asia. Even now, it is common to see horse-drawn carriages (calesas), grand churches and people mingling on the cobblestone streets.

I had a wonderful experience with the hotel I stayed in, Veneto de Vigan. I lost my phone a few hours before I was supposed to leave Vigan, when it fell out of my pocket in a local tricycle. That was quite depressing, one reason being that all my photos of Vigan were in the phone. When I informed the hotel owner, without any real hope of getting it back, he and his staff mobilised all their resources to help me. They tried to identify the tricycle using street cameras, worked with the Public Safety office, and questioned tricycle drivers at the bus stand. Finally, they tracked down the tricycle where my phone had fallen out and recovered the phone from the driver! When they asked the driver why he never tried to return the phone or answer the calls to it, he innocently replied that it was too high-tech for him and therefore he thought it best not to touch the phone! And a week later I got my phone back when I was in Manila!

A calesa waiting for passengers

Calle Crisologo with its cobblestone streets is Vigan's main attraction

Spanish-Filipino ancestral houses

Cafe on Calle Crisologo

Benches to sit and relax

Shops selling antique wooden products

Calle Crisologo on a rainy night

Calesas waiting for passengers in front of St. Paul's Cathedral

Interiors of St. Paul's Cathedral

Syquia Mansion, a rich, extensive house turned into a museum

Streets of Vigan are plied by calesas and tricycles

Hidden Gardens, a flower and bonsai exhibition

Bantay Bell Tower

Candles and offerings, Chapel by the ruins

Veneto, an old house now converted into a hotel and a lovely place to stay in Vigan!

Interiors of Veneto

House windows