Why the Historic City of Vigan was Inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage List?
Towards the end of November 1999,
the UNESCO World Heritage Convention met in Marrakeeh, Morocco to
decide which of the sites and monuments proposed by countries
that have adhered to the World Heritage Convention should be included in the
World Heritage List. The selection process is quite difficult for the
World Heritage Committee, composed of specialists from 21 countries elected
from among the nations that have signed the Convention, which determined how
each site or monument, as opposed to another, be judged to form part of the
World Heritage and what constitutes the exceptional and universal value of
a cultural treasure.
In this
respect, the World Heritage Convention defines what kinds of monuments and
sites may be considered as part of cultural heritage and what kinds of physical
and geological formations may be considered as part of our natural
heritage. The Convention provides detailed criteria for the selection of
sites and monuments, which the Committee applies rigorously to prevent the
World Heritage List from becoming too long and to preserve its integrity as the
checklist of the best among the world’s treasures.
On 2
December 1999, our Historic City of Vigan, a municipality then was inscribed in
the World Heritage List which now includes 630 cultural and natural properties
of exceptional universal value in 158 States Parties or countries that have
adhered to the Convention.
The
Historic City of Vigan was inscribed on the basis of the following:
Criterion (ii): “exhibit an
important interchange of human values, over a span of time or within a cultural
area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental
arts or town planning and landscape design.”
Under
this criterion, the World Heritage Centre officially cites: “Vigan represents a
unique fusion of Asian building design and construction with European colonial
architecture and planning.”
Criterion (iv): “be an outstanding example of a type of building or
architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates a
significant change in human history.”
Under
this criterion, the citation reads: “Vigan is an exceptionally intact and
well preserved example of a European trading town in East and East Asia.”
To
understand better these citations, let us explore together the town planning,
the evolution and typical lay-out of the Vigan House.
Town Planning
Strategically located at the mouth of the Abra River along the northwestern
coast of Luzon which is nearest to mainland China, Vigan was an important
coastal trading port from the pre-colonial era to the 19th
century. The town plan is representative of the style the Spanish
colonizers had designed and established in the 18th century,
conforming to the Ley de las Indias (the Law of the Indies) that regulated the
lay-out, street patterns and open spaces of all new settlements during the
Spanish era: a regular urban design of grid street pattern radiating from a
central plaza (park).
Dominating
the central plaza (Plaza Salcedo) are the administrative and religious
buildings: the Casa Real (Provincial Administrative Office), the Municipio
(Municipal Hall), the Seminario (Archdiocesan Seminary), the Colegio de Niñas
(which became the Rosary College, then St. Paul’s College), the Arzobispado
(Archbishop’s Palace), the Cathedral (St. Paul’s Cathedral) with its detached
campanario (belfry). Another plaza (Plaza Burgos) is situated to the
south of the cathedral. Ancestral houses are tightly strung along narrow
streets forming a grid-like pattern within the kasanglayan or mestizo district
(historic district) which used to extend from the Mestizo River on the east to
Rizal Street on the west.
The ancient
urban plan survived the ravages of time, nature and the last World War, but a
number of historic buildings were destroyed by fire. Before the turn of
the last century, the Casa Real burned down and was replaced by an American
colonial structure which became the Capitolio (Provincial Capitol
Building). During the Japanese occupation, fire destroyed several houses
along Crisologo Street, which were fortunately replaced by structures
conforming to the historic buildings within the Mestizo district. In
1952, ancestral houses along Quezon Avenue were gutted down by fire. They
were replaced by modern structures, which started the erosion of
the ancient urban fabric of Vigan. The old seminario was
burned down in 1968, followed by arrow of ancestral houses on the southern
periphery of Plaza Burgos in 1971.
Evolution of the Vigan House
The Vigan
house evolved from the pre-colonial bahay kubo of wood and bamboo, with roofs
of nipa palm or cogon grass. The bahay kubo however was easily destroyed
by typhoons and fire. In the 17th century, the Spaniards and
Mexicans started teaching the Chinese and native artisans how to quarry and
dress stone, mould bricks, prepare and use lime mortar to construct
fire-resistant brick and stone structures. Again, these structures were
easily toppled down by earthquakes.
To
counteract the dangers of fire and earthquakes, local artisans developed
another type of architecture which incorporates the flexibility of interlocking
wooden haligis (houseposts) and beams of the bahay kubo, and the durability and
fire-resistance of stone and bricks. Stone and brick were used only on
the ground floor; the second floor was of timber. The haligis carried the
weight of the second floor, while the stone and brick walls on the
ground floor served as solid curtains for the wooden framework.
A majority
of the historic buildings in Vigan are two-storey structures, built in masonry
on the ground floor and timber on the second floor. Some of the
timber and bricks
houses have voladas or extensions of the second floors that projects to the
outside. The volada is a passageway that runs along this projection and
was used by servants to move discreetly around the house, without disturbing
homeowners and guests in the sala and bedrooms.
A third
type of Vigan house is the two-storey buildings, built in masonry on both
floors, which is remarkable in this earth-quake prone are. Most of the
houses along Crisologo Street are of this type, which manifests the highest
technological achievement of local artisans in building construction before the
introduction of modern building materials and technology from the west.
The Vigan Ancestral House
Like
the shop-houses in Asian trading cities like Melaka, Penang and Kuching
(Malaysia), Macau, Singapore and Hoi An (Viet Nam), the Vigan house was built
on a larger scale than its Asian counterparts.
The lay out
and partitioning of the Vigan house were designed for specific purposes.
One enters the puerta (main door), which is wide enough to accommodate the
width of the caruaje (horse-drawn carriage) and high enough for the carroza
(shoulder-borne and later on, carriage-mounted religious images), into a zaguan
or hall on the ground floor. The inhabitants of the house can let
visitors in by pulling a string from the second floor to open a puertita
(smaller door) hinged to the main door. Horses for carriages were
tethered in the caballoreza (horse stable) at the rear of the ground
floor. Shops and bodegas (storage rooms) take up the rest of the space on
the ground floor.
The grand
staircase has two sections: a few steps to a landing where ordinary visitors
were received; then a long flight of staircase to the second floor. More
important visitors were received in the caida or antesala where informal
entertaining was held. The sala, the biggest and most important part of
the house was used for family gatherings and for important occasions. As
in the pre-colonial bahay kubo, families slept together in two to three large
cuartos (bedrooms). Either located at the end of the sala or separated by
partition is the comedor (dining room) which leads to the cocina
(kitchen). Adjacent to the cocina is the cobeta (toilet) which is a
separate structure that was built at a later stage when sanitary toilets were
introduced in the late 1800s. The azotea (open terrace) is an extension
at the back of the second floor where residents and guests gathered to cool off
and enjoy the stars after dinner.
The large ventanas
(windows) which provide a maximum of ventilation are of two layers of sliding
panes: an inner pair of sliding windows made of translucent capiz shells (of
Chinese/Japanese origin) that permit natural sunlight to enter into the house;
and an outside pair of sliding wooden storm shutters. Below the ventanas
are smaller windows of sliding wooden panels called ventanillas that are
protected by wooden balusters. Children can safely watch the street scene
below through the balustered ventanillas. Tiled roofs and eaves extend
well into the street to prevent rain from entering the inside of the
house. Calados (cutwork friezes) decorating the top portion of the
internal wooden partitions permit breeze to waft through. Some houses
have window eaves made of tin and decorated with decorative cutouts on the
fringes.
Significance of Vigan’s Inscription
The
historic buildings of Vigan manifest the unique artistic and technological
achievements of 18th and 19th century native artisans who
developed an architectural style adapted to the earthquake-prone tropics and
reflected their native art, using indigenous materials of wood, stone, terra
cotta and capiz shells. The authenticity of the built heritage of Vigan
has been established by experts: much of its original architectural, structural
and decorative elements are still intact.
Vigan is a
unique monument for having retained its ancient urban plan. In the
Philippines, our town has the most extensive number of surviving religious,
civic and traditional buildings that date back to the 18th century.
Today, 187 historic structures have survived. Most of them continue to be
inhabited by descendants of the original builders or used for the original
purposes for which they were built (religious and administrative buildings).
Vigan is a ‘living heritage site’ where local inhabitants continue to be the
custodians of their patrimony, where traditional industries continue to fuel
local economy and where local traditions continue to be practiced.
Over
the centuries, Vigan has maintained its visual and architectural unity and
homogeneity. The built heritage of Vigan expresses the fusion and
continuing adaptation of various cultural influences (Ilocano, Filipino,
Chinese, Spanish, Mexican and more recently American) into a homogenous urban
landscape and into an architectural style that is uniquely Filipino.
Vigan
is likewise historically important to the nation as the scene of major
historical events in the nation’s struggle for independence from foreign domination
and is the birthplace of heroes, heroines and illustrious personages who shaped
regional and national destiny.
Vigan’s
inscription in the UNESCO World Heritage List of Cultural Properties is
therefore an acknowledgement of the genius of our native artisans who built our
historic buildings and monuments, and a recognition of the commitment of our
present generation to preserve our architectural legacy for the future
generations of not only Bigueños, but of the entire world. With its inclusion
in the World Heritage List, the Town of Vigan has become a source of pride, and
a national symbol of the Filipinos.
(Written by Engr. Ricardo L. Favis,
a Consultant for Culture at UNESCO Principal Regional Office for Asia and the
Pacific Bangkok, Thailand and former Tourism Operations Officer of the City of
Vigan)
