Msgr. Gary Noel S. Formoso, the rector and parish priest of the Vigan Cathedral announced that the church will be temporarily closed for post-earthquake inspection. The announcement was posted on the Cathedral’s Facebook page.
Photos from Vigan Cathedral Facebook page
This morning, July 27, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake hit Lagangilang, Abra at 8:43 AM. However, the earthquake was felt even in the neighboring provinces causing damages in the structures including the 400-year old Vigan Cathedral.
The Vigan Cathedral or the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Conversion of St. Paul the Apostle is a famous and historical landmark in the Ilocandia. The present structure was completed in the 1800. The original structure was just a chapel built in 1574 under the command of panish founder of Vigan, Juan de Salcedo. The cathedral building included influences from Baroque architectural design, neo-Gothic, pseudo-Romanesque and Chinese craftsmanship.
The Vigan Cathedral is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Nueva Segovia and part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site.