Manila Cathedral, through the years

For several months, the Manila Cathedral was under repair. The façade was covered with scaffolds and it didn't seem to me that it was open to the public; hence, I opted to skip visiting the cathedral when I made a stop in Intramuros. Until last year, when the façade was suddenly cleared and started to look more welcoming.

This time around, I was at the Manila Cathedral for the wedding of my cousin, Joharra. While waiting for the ceremony to begin, I noticed that there was an exhibit about the cathedral's restoration. I was impressed with the efforts taken by the group who did the restoration and the exhibit because they really dug deep into the archives to make sure that they are doing the right thing.

It was fascinating to see old images of the church, reflecting how different it has become... in fact, the present structure is the eighth cathedral. The previous one (1792) looked very different from the current church. For instance, the bell tower appeared to be attached to the cathedral itself during the Spanish period.

However, the more recent cathedral has the main church separate from the bell tower. The façades were also very different between the two churches. The current one features arches that remind of Gothic architecture (although I'm pretty sure that the style is different); the 1792 structure was more Baroque (like the San Agustin Church).

Like most of the structures in Intramuros, the Manila Cathedral was destroyed during World War II (1945). Aerial images show that what was left was barely a shell of a church. This is unimaginable, given the grandeur of the current structure.

One of my favourite features in churches is the stained glass artwork. The Manila Cathedral does not disappoint because it has a lot. I took a close look at one of them; my attention was drawn by the third panel from the top because there were characters wearing sunglasses... it's quite rare to see such modern references in ancient churches. However, I have to remember that the church itself is relatively new and the church leaders probably want to show that they catch up with current events.

Aside from photos, the exhibit also featured priestly garb and a scale model of the cathedral. It doesn't feature the intricate details of the actual cathedral. But it did feature the rose window on top of the main door. I wonder if it also features where the earthquake retrofitting was done.

I was wowed with the technologies used by the restoration team in making sure that the church could withstand earthquakes. A poster showed the spots where they used a special polymer blend to repair cracks in the dome and other fractures in different parts of the building.

I hope that there's a guided tour of the exhibit because I think that people need to be walked through the nuts and bolts of keeping the place up and running.