Built Heritage Tradition of the Minor Basilica of St. Michael the Archangel in Tayabas City, Quezon Province

  • Showing ground floor plan, front façade, and location map (A. Arciaga III, 2022)

In this week’s #MuseumFromHome series this National Heritage Month, we feature the Minor Basilica of St. Michael the Archangel which is located in Tayabas City. The basilica remains the only one of its special designation in Quezon Province, is acclaimed as one of the most beautiful churches in the country, and is a declared National Cultural Treasure in 2001 by the National Museum of the Philippines.

The nave of the basilica, view from the altar to the main entrance (A. Arciaga III, 2022)

The basilica’s humble beginnings originate with a single-nave camarin-type (or shed-type) church building made of bamboo, anahaw, and nipa, built through the efforts of the Franciscans in 1585. By the year 1600, the church structure was transformed into a stone edifice. In 1743, the main church was damaged in an earthquake and was rebuilt by 1745, incorporating stone walls measuring 1 vara (roughly equivalent to 1 yard or 0.8359 meters) in thickness. By 1855, the basilica would be expanded with the modification of the triangular pediment of the facade into a curvilinear form and the addition of the crucero—also known as transepts—which completed the church’s cruciform plan and gave it the distinct key-shaped form for which it is now known for. 

The main altar and the transepts, showing the painted interior of the church (A. Arciaga III, 2022)

Unique in the built heritage treasure are the beautifully rendered trompe l’oeil paintings in its interior, covering the entirety of the ceilings of the church and the walls of the crucero, featuring religious imagery and ornamentation made to look as if they were intricately carved and three–dimensional instead of painted on plain surfaces. Another exceptional feature is the astronomical clock embedded and installed in the basilica’s adjoining bell tower, unequaled in the country and installed in 1818. 

The church is situated on a small hill, and covers a building footprint of around 2900 square meters, with dimensions of around 103 meters in length and 53 meters in width. Its plan is oriented on a northwest to a southeast axis, with the main entrance located in the southeast. The main church plan is rectangular, featuring a single grand nave—the longest church nave in the country. The altar features three (3) Rococo retablos located at each apse of the northwestern terminus. The convent and its open areas cover an area of around 1900 square meters, with dimensions of 65 meters in length and 30 meters in width.

Detail photo of trompe l’oiel paintings (A. Arciaga III, 2022)

The basilica presents a fair state of conservation, backed by the conscious and informed efforts of the local government of Tayabas and the diocesan parish to preserve their built heritage. The national cultural treasure has undergone restoration work and currently undergoes regular maintenance and upkeep. Initiatives are in place, partnering stakeholders and the national cultural agencies, to secure the basilica’s preservation for all future generations to appreciate its magnificence. 

Text and illustrations/photos by Ar. Armando Arciaga III, AABHD 

© 2022 National Museum of the Philippines

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