Close up of a horse cart riding through the Spanish colonial architecture, Vigan, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Northern Luzon, Philippines, Southeast Asia, Asia

Getty Images/Robert Harding World Imagery

Vigan

One of the oldest towns in the Philippines, Vigan is a Spanish Colonial fairy tale of dark-wood mansions, cobblestone streets and clattering kalesa (horse-drawn carriages). In fact, it is the finest surviving example of a Spanish Colonial town in Asia and a Unesco World Heritage site. But outside of well-restored Crisologo St (closed to vehicular traffic) and a few surrounding blocks, it’s also a noisy Filipino town like many others. In the places where history feels alive, you can smell the aroma of freshly baked empanadas wafting past antique shops, explore pottery collectives and watch sunlight flicker off capiz-shell windows.

Attractions

Must-see attractions

  • Craft store on historic Crisologo Street, Mestizo District.

    Mestizo District

    Vigan

    The Mestizo District, or Kasanglayan ('where the Chinese live'), is a grid of streets hemmed in between Plaza Burgos and Liberation Blvd and bisected by…

  • Pottery Factories

    Pottery Factories

    Vigan

    Prior to the arrival of the Spanish, Chinese settlers pioneered a still-active pottery industry. You can visit a couple of pottery factories on Gomez St…

  • St Paul Cathedral

    St Paul Cathedral

    Vigan

    This church was built in ‘earthquake baroque’ style (ie thick-walled and massive) after an earlier incarnation was damaged by quakes in 1619 and 1627. The…

  • Padre José Burgos National Museum

    Padre José Burgos National Museum

    Vigan

    Built in 1788, this museum is in the ancestral home of Father José Burgos, one of the three martyr priests executed by the Spanish in 1872. It houses an…

  • Magsingal Museum

    Magsingal Museum

    Vigan

    This branch of Vigan's Padre José Burgos National Museum, located 11km north of Vigan in Magsingal, displays an absorbing collection of Ilocano relics. An…

  • Crisologo Museum

    Crisologo Museum

    Vigan

    The Crisologos, Vigan’s most prominent political dynasty, have converted their ancestral home into this strangely compelling family shrine. In addition to…

  • Juan Luna Shrine

    Juan Luna Shrine

    Vigan

    It's worth stopping in Badoc, halfway between Vigan and Laoag (about an hour by bus), for a peek inside the restored ancestral home of Juan Luna, arguably…

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