Iloilo Travelogue#8: San Jose Church

The beauty of traveling in a Catholic country such as Philippines is that you can always find a church in almost every town where you can sit in peace and rest for a bit without the hassle of paying anything  (it's also very likely that nobody will bother you) and we all know that it's always best to drop by and ask for good solid direction from "The Man above" as much as we could, don't you think? ^_^.  Much said, in a way, churches has become my coffee shop when traveling ^_^ (having coffee time with God? now that's a thought.lol! ) Fortunately, in Iloilo, most churches are just a couple of steps away from the town's plaza -- a big plus since most of them always had a historic significance of some sort. San Jose Church is found a couple of steps away from the historic Plaza Libertad and about 10 minutes via jeepney from Museo Iloilo. The church itself is much different from any of the churches we've visited in Iloilo, for one, the materials used to build the church are not of corals or limestones but of stones and bricks giving the church its unique red color. And, much to my delight, the interior of the church is much subtle than its red facade outside. It's a beautiful surprise wrapped up in a red wrap. Check out my photos. ^_^

San Jose Church, Iloilo City

The church was built for the military people that were assigned in Iloilo formerly called "Punta" and was saved from being bombed by the Americans during WWII when they found that the reports of Japanese soldiers hiding in the church proved to be false.

side entrance, San Jose church, Iloilo City

The ornate columns and the green and white theme makes the church feels a little cooler than it is. The light plays so well with the shapes of the ceiling arches and columns. The design was an attempt of Fr. Mauricio Blanco (1873) to copy the Miguelete Church of Valencia El Cid in Spain. The floors are made up of marbles shipped from Romblon that were laid out in the early 1980s. The most prized procession of the church however is the statue of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary, found in 1614 by Diego Quinones. It was said that after a triumphant defense against Dutch invaders, Quinones took a walk in the moonlight to check on casualties when he stumbled on a wooden box with the image of the Our Lady with a child on her arms. Two Augustinian priest organized a procession and brought the statue to the church. 

San Jose church, Iloilo City

How we got there:
From Museo Iloilo, we rode a jeepney going to "City proper" (there's no need cross the road). Thumb rule is to check the sign on the windshield / infront of the jeep instead of looking at the writings on the jeepney's body to avoid confusion. We asked the driver to drop us off at Plaza Libertad, the church can be seen from there.