St. James Church in Dapitan
From Zamboanga City our next stop was up north of Mindanao to the twin cities of Dipolog and Dapitan. It was a long 8 hour ride from an ordinary air cooled bus. Departing mid-day and arriving a little past at 8 in the evening. It was tiring since we were expecting it to be shorter. Spending a night in Dipolog, moving the next day to neighboring Dapitan. It was rainy in these parts already when we got there and was only able to take photos of the beautiful church of Dapitan.
St James Church Interiors Loft View
I really like Dapitan. The town has this charming old feel, well laid out, has some nice old houses. It seems Jose Rizal, did well in building the foundation of this town when he was exiled here for 4 years from 1892 to 1896. From opening a school and hospital, he helped out in building the town, beautifying it to be comparable to the places he visited in Europe. And during his four years, there is a particular spot in town where people are sure to see him every Sunday, it’s at St James Church.
St James impressive Church Ceiling”
St James Church is a typical baroque style church built in 1871, in honor of St. James the Greater, Dapitan’s parton saint. What’s striking and unique about this church is it’s ceiling and dome design. A mesmerizing pattern which will definitely draw any eyes to the sky.
St James Church Prayers and offering room
It was unfortunate we were ot able to go around more due to the weather. But from what I have seen of Dapitan, it’s one of the better cities I’ve been to. Their Sunset Boulevard holds a lot of promise and the places to stay as well as the food are reasonably cheap. A place definitely worth getting back to.
got to love the pattern on top. =)
Do we know what brought about the design of the ceiling? What was the inspiration for it, I wonder? It would be interesting to find out. This church is unique in a way. Is this part of the Unesco Heritage?
seeing your images compels me to say i said it before and i’ll say it again — parang kelan lang itong biyaheng ito. kung hindi lang sa untimely rains (imagine, it was raining the day after new year’s day), we could’ve explored more of dapitan as i find it more interesting than dipolog kasi mas laidback, mas may old world feel. but the st. james church was an interesting stopover. whoever thought of the ceiling design is a design genius. seeing it in pictures made me stare but seeing it in person made me appreciate the details.
The ceiling creates an illusion, may 3D effect sya. Cool!
Yep Pao! Love em too.
I haven’t found any literature on how the ceiling got to be Photo Cache. I heard unconfirmed info that Jose Rizal designed it but am not sure. Will try to look into it. It’s not part of the UNESCO Baroque Churches though.
Onga Og, if it wasn’t raining, it would be great to roam around.
Katuwa nga yung ceiling Millie. Me illusion.
ganda ng ceiling.. gusto ko makapunta jan
pag-ako nagsimba jan sigurado ma hi-hypnotize ako sa ceiling. ganda. sayang i was not able to meet u and oggie sa dot/mtv meeting. sana may next time pa.
Nice place ang Dapitan Tin-tin. I’m sure you’ll enjoy.
hahaha. Either ma hypnotize or mahilo ka Oman. Malay mo next time magkikita kita rin tayo
i was in dipolog way back 1996 but i didnt had the chance to drop by the church. its ceiling is really unique. good that it retained that way.
you finally got to my hometown
Hi there.. Your archive http://www.ironwulf.net/2005/06/10/huling-hirit-for-summer-in-palawan/ had some underwater shots.. May I know what camera you used back then? Those were decent enough shots… Thanks