San Agustin Church, Manila

The San Agustin Museum Manila is located in Intramuros which features the church’s huge collection of religious art and other artifacts with some even dating back to 16th century.

The San Agustin Museum Manila is adjacent to the San Agustin Church, known as the Philippine’s oldest church. It is a treasury of religious art pieces. This museum is housed in the adjacent San Agustin Monastery, and exhibits art and artifacts from the Philippines, Spain, Mexico and other cultural centers. The original Augustinians arrived in the Philippines in 1565 just a few decades after Magellan explored the islands, meaning that the aforementioned museum is no slouch. Despite having been damaged by British forces in the 18th century, American forces in the 19th century, and the Japanese in the 20th, it’s in fine fettle (partially owing to a painstaking restoration effort undertaken in the 1970s).

While you are at the San Agustin Church, you might want to also take a look around the San Agustin Museum nearby. Connected to the centuries-old church through a passageway from the balcony, the San Agustin Museum preserves the church’s ecclesiastical relics and artworks such as wooden and ivory statues, Dominican paintings and sculptures, renditions of the galleon ships, the church’s 3400-kilogram bell and other architectural emblems of Spanish Catholicism.

The hallways are lined with large paintings of saints, approximately 2 meters in height, and the rooms, which used to be the sleeping quarters of the friars, have various statues and other art pieces on display. On the 2nd floor, there’s a room where you can see the inside of the church from above. The ceilings look like they are carved, but it is actually a Trompe-l’œil.