Tag Archive: Ilocos Sur
The City of Vigan is a World Heritage Site. It is one of numerous Hispanic towns in the Philippines and is well-known for its cobblestone streets, and a unique architecture that fuses Philippine building design, and construction with colonial European architecture.
The city’s full name at the time of its Spanish foundation was “Villa Fernandina“, or “Town of Ferdinand”, in honour of Prince Ferdinand, the firstborn son of King Philip II of Spain. As the city grew, and the seat of the Archdiocese of Nueva Segovia transferred to Vigan, it was later re-named “Ciudad Fernandina de Vigan” (“Ferdinand’s City of Vigan”).
Calle Crisologo is virtual tourist playground. If it weren’t for the tourists taking pictures left and right, you’d think that you were transported back more than a hundred years to the Spanish colonial era. Among the buildings along the street are hotels, pension houses, souvenir shops, and restaurants. Many of the houses have those typical wooden benches in front where anyone can sit. Kalesas, or horse-drawn carriages, are the only vehicles allowed on the street.
