// visiting old churches in iloilo + museo iloilo

 Iloilo City is filled with beautiful churches that has been around for many many years. So being there, we took the opportunity to visit some of the famous churches/cathedrals in the area of Molo, despite the really bad weather. It was refreshing to see old infrastructures, since we're used to seeing modern ones. 

 
The first church we went to is the Jaro Cathedral. Jaro Cathedral is one of the oldest churches in the Philippines. It has all the male saint statues. Do you see the statue in the picture? She is the Lady of Candles and is believed to have grown and no longer fits its original case. The limestone kept growing and had to be removed from the inside of the church. She then had to be removed and moved to the present location. How creepy and cool is that? 

This is the first thing you see when you come in. 

As I was saying, Jaro Cathedral only have male saints and the only exception of the Lady of Candles.

The next place we went to is "Museo Iloilo". I have to say it's a very small museum (lol). We had to pay P25 for a student and P50 (less than 1 euro) for an adult. I like visiting museums like this in the Philippines because it gives me a better understanding of my Filipino roots. I have seen a mix of good and bad reviews of the place and I am not disappointed one bit or annoyed that I spent money for the entrance. There are three parts of the museum, the artsy side (paintings), the heritage side and the religious side.  

Those are some of the paintings that really caught my eye. Now on to the heritage side. 

Pottery from Great Britain

There's also some artefacts from World War 2. Did I tell you that I'm a massive fan of history? So seeing that they had a section for World War 2, I was absolutely delighted. I'm kind of terrible at Philippine history (I'm better at Irish history) My great grandfather also helped during the World War 2 in Iloilo, we even still have the helmet in our basement. I was soo amazed. 

(c) Jenny Dayao

After we had a look around, we went to Molo Church. That church is so near our house in Molo that when you go out of the gate, you only have to walk. Generations of our family went to that church since my mom's parents are very religious. While Jaro Cathedral only have male religious images, Molo church only have female religious images.  

After we had a look around, we went to Molo Church. That church is so near our house in Molo that when you go out of the gate, you only have to walk. Generations of our family went to that church since my mom's parents are very religious. While Jaro Cathedral only have male religious images, Molo church only have female religious images.  

 

You're probably wondering "Why are there holes on the church bell?" Well they're bullet holes from World War 2. I really enjoyed visiting some famous landmarks in Iloilo. I wish that Isha was with us when we visited these places. Let me know in the comments below where are you from and if you have any similar landmarks in your city. Thanks for reading :) <3