Description of the attraction
The Little Basilica of San Sebastian, better known as the Church of San Sebastian, is a Roman Catholic temple located in Manila. It houses the parish of St. Sebastian and the national shrine - the statue of the Virgin Mary from Mount Carmel. The church, completed in 1891, is a fine example of the neo-Gothic style. This is the only all-metal basilica in all of Asia! Moreover, it is also the only prefabricated metal church in the world. In 2006, the Basilica of San Sebastian was included in the "queue" in the UNESCO World Heritage List as a national landmark of the Philippines.
The history of the church dates back to 1621, when Don Bernardino Castillo, a generous patron and zealous admirer of the Christian martyr Saint Sebastian, donated a piece of land on which the church stands today. The first church building, built of wood, burned down in 1651 during the Chinese uprising. Subsequent brick structures were also destroyed by fires and earthquakes in 1859, 1863 and 1880. In 1880, the parish priest of the ruined church, Esteban Martinez, approached the Spanish architect Genaro Palacios with a project to erect a steel building that would be resistant to fire and natural disasters. Palacios accepted the offer and created a real masterpiece - they say that the Gothic cathedral in Burgos, Spain, served as a model for his project.
Steel sections for the construction of the church were produced in Belgium: 52 tons of parts were transported to the Philippines on eight ships in 1888. Belgian engineers personally supervised the assembly of the church - the first column was erected in 1890. The walls were filled with a mixture of sand, gravel and cement. The stained-glass windows were brought from Germany, and local craftsmen helped to make the finishing touches of the steel church.
In June 1890, the Church of San Sebastian received the status of a minor basilica from Pope Leo XIII. And the following year, fully assembled, the church was consecrated by the Archbishop of Manila, Bernardo Nozaleda.
For a long time it was believed that Gustave Eiffel, the author of the famous Eiffel Tower, was directly involved in the development of the church project. This connection was allegedly confirmed by the Filipino historian Ambet Ocampo during a search in the archives of Paris. Ocampo even published a report that in 1970 the famous architect I. M. Pei visited Manila to check rumors about the Eiffel's role in the construction of the Church of San Sebastian. According to this report, Pei confirmed that it was the Eiffel who designed the metal fixings and the structure as a whole. However, this version is still considered unproven.
The interior of the church exhibits the cross vaults of the Gothic architectural style. The steel columns, walls and ceiling were painted by Lorenzo Rocha and his students in marble and jasper. The technique of optical illusion was used to decorate the interior. The confessional, pulpit, altars and five altar shelves were decorated in accordance with the neo-Gothic style. Six fonts were also created for the church, each carved from Romblon marble.
Above the main altar is a statue of the Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel, donated to the church by the Carmelite sisters from Mexico in 1617. The statue survived all the fires and earthquakes that destroyed the previous buildings, but in 1975 it lost its head - it was stolen.
