May 28, 2010, Friday. Dai Mel and I decided to witness the Gabii Sa Kabilin (Night of Heritage) 2010 to commemorate the old Cebu. 🙂 It is in celebration of the Museum Month. I borrowed flash from a colleague at work and lucky he allowed me to use it. hihihi.
During the night, 9 museums in Cebu were opened. We first head to Parian area where a sort of fashion show of Cebu’s best fashion designers showcasing Cebu’s best dresses. 🙂 But I only brought my kit lens which for me won’t be able to take good shots when I’m quite far from the stage.. :), so we went to our first museum hopping, San Diego Ancestral House.
The Yap-San Diego Ancestral Home is referred to as “bahay na bato” which means a house made out of stone. Yes, the house was made out of stone but not just ordinary stone but “coral stones” and they used egg white to let the coral stones stick with each other. Kinda odd but it works wonders, it is very evident in every churches built here in the Philippines during the Spanish era. All of the churches were made out of coral stones, and tons and tons of egg white used in order to have each stone stick.
Second stop was in Casa Gorordo, a lifestyle museum. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take pictures. It was an interesting museum for me. 🙂 It was owned by the first bishop in Cebu. When we went upstairs and saw the divisions in the house that depicts the division of the type of people who were allowed to enter. One area of the house that catches our attention was the Suitor Area.. ehehe..
Casa Gorordo, built in the mid-19th century, was bought by Juan Isidro de Gorordo in 1863. Now under the Aboitiz Foundation, the house has been restored and outfitted as a house museum that showcases the elegant lifestyle at the turn of the century.
Heritage Features: The house’s lower floor or zaguan, which traditionally served as a storage space, now houses the offices of the house museum, a small store and an area for art exhibitions. It is built of bituka tabliya (coral stone blocks) and roofed with tile. It has all the typical features of a bahay na bato (balay nga bato): wooden upper story, ventanillas, sliding capiz windows, etc. The second story is furnished with antique furniture and has a collection of costumes, books and memorabilia from the past. Worth noting is the master’s bedroom which displays a collection of sayas. A room in the residence was outfitted to become a chapel because a scion of the Gorordos, Juan (1862-1934), became first Filipino bishop of Cebu (1910-32). The bishop would use the chapel whenever he visited home. The chapel displays a pasyon manuscript in Cebuano. Another item in the house collection is an antique nativity set.
The dining room of the house is separated from the landing or caida and living room by an arch ornately carved with plants and birds. The kitchen at the end of the dining room or comedor is typical of the period. Atypical is the wide balcony or azotea, that runs the whole length of the dining room and kitchen. A trellis supports a bougainvillea plant, that is so large it is almost a tree.
The garden has been landscaped and a new service building, inspired by 19th century architecture, has been built beside Casa Gorordo.
Open Mondays to Saturdays from 9:00 – 12:00; 2:00 – 5:00.
Next stop was supposedly to Sugbu Museum, but we got tired of waiting for the bus going there. So we rode on the bus going to Fort San Pedro instead.
Fuerza de San Pedro is a military defence structure, built by Spanish and indigenous Cebuano labourers under the command of Spanish conquistador, Miguel López de Legazpi and the Spanish Government in Cebu. It is located in the area now called Plaza Indepedencia, in the Pier Area of Cebu City, Philippines.
The smallest, oldest triangular bastion fort in the country was built in 1738 to repel Muslim raiders. In turn, it served as a stronghold for Filipino revolutionaries near the end of the 19’th Century. This served as the nucleus of the first Spanish settlement in the Philippines.
Next was on Sto. Nino Museum. And we were not allowed to take pictures as well. So I will just tell you what we saw inside.. hehehe.. There you get to see the red cape that the little child Sto. Nino wore in the previous years, the original crown that the original Sto. Nino image has worn. The different offerings including children toys for Sto. Nino, as the people believed that a little boy as the Sto. Nino is, he also plays. 🙂 The images of the past as well were displayed there. The old records of the deceased Cebuanos during the Spanish era, written by hand by the priests I guess. The old font style looks great.. hehehe..
We then head to our last museum hopping, the last was the museum located near the Cathedral and in USPF.
The Cathedral Museum of Cebu is a museum in Downtown Cebu City in the Philippines, (re)opened in November 2006. It is the ecclesiastical museum of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cebu.
The focus of the museum is regional Church architecture and artifacts. Many of the items on display are from the Spanish colonial times.
It is situated next to the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral, and not far from the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño. The collection is housed in a building which is in itself a museum piece; it goes back to the 19th century. The building was one of the few extant structures in downtown Cebu City that was totally spared from the ravages of World War II. It also survived uninformed renovators and the natural elements.
It was built in the early nineteenth century probably during the incumbency of Cebu Bishop Santos Gomez Marañon. Bishop Marañon, who was known as a church builder, was responsible for the construction of the churches of Oslob, Cebu and Naga, the Episcopal Palace across the cathedral, the bell tower of Argao and the convent of Sibonga.
This is a great experience for me! 🙂 I hope to have this kind of experience next year and be able to visit the museums that we weren’t able to visit that night.
Casa Gorordo’s opening hours are from Tues-Sunday, 10-18 hrs. Mondays and Holidays closed except when prior arrangements have been made. See you next year Gabii sa Kabilin 2011, Friday, 27 May 2011 with more fun…..