I first saw this town's well-kept plaza and its church's belfry tower from a distance while riding a jeepney on our way to see Miag-ao church. After passing the public market and reading "Guimbal" on its sign, I tugged my husband's sleeves and whispered to him - "we have to stop here if we still have time". Luckily, we were able to get back right before sundown. And, after getting off the market and passing the town's municipal hall, we walked directly towards another historical and unique Spanish church.
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| Guimbal church |
What makes the church unique from it's neighboring churches is that it is more feminine-looking. Probably because of its curvy gables. ^_^ Made me think that this church leans towards the Spanish Renaissance style than the manly-baroque buildings I've seen from Tigbauan, Miag-ao and San Joaquin. Just like the other churches, it also served as a fortress against the Moro pirates who comes to the island kidnapping locals and selling them as slaves in Mindanao. Talk about human trafficking. =(
A couple of broken windows and a bit run-down from the inside, I get the feeling that the church needs a lot of renovation and a lot of funding for that matter. The floor alone will cost a lot of money. I hope whoever won the 150M jackpot lotto prize yesterday could spare this church a bit of dough. ^_^
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| Inside Guimbal church |
But, no one can deny that the outer structure still gives a picture perfect shot for travelers and photographers. The mocha brick walls surely gives the church its character. ^_^
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| me & guimbal church |
And, unlike San Joaquin's plaza that is tucked away from the main highway, Guimbal's plaza is right in the heart of the bustling highway. And, its well maintained landscape really complement the town's lady-looking church ^_^
The spacious plaza gives me that feeling that I am in Manila's Luneta Park. And yep, there's that status of Rizal once again. ^_^
How we got there:
From San Joaquin town, just ride any jeepney that goes back to Iloilo City. There are also Ceres bus lines that passes through this town but we preferred to take the jeepney since its much faster and cheaper. Only PHP25/head. Get off at Guimbal market because there's no unloading of passengers in front of the plaza, you can easily walk to the church from there.
The spacious plaza gives me that feeling that I am in Manila's Luneta Park. And yep, there's that status of Rizal once again. ^_^
From San Joaquin town, just ride any jeepney that goes back to Iloilo City. There are also Ceres bus lines that passes through this town but we preferred to take the jeepney since its much faster and cheaper. Only PHP25/head. Get off at Guimbal market because there's no unloading of passengers in front of the plaza, you can easily walk to the church from there.
