Completed in 1891, San Sebastián Church is noted for its architectural features. An example of the revival of Gothic architecture in the Philippines, it is the only all-steel church or basilica in Asia. It has also been implausibly reputed to be the first prefabricated building in the world,and more plausibly claimed as the only prefabricated steel church in the world. In 2006, San Sebastian Church was included in the Tentative List for possible designation as a World Heritage Site. It was designated as a National Historical Landmark by the Philippine government in 1973.
As the only all-steel church in Asia,San Sebastián Church has two openwork towers and steel vaulting. The basilica's central nave is twelve meters from the floor to the dome, and thirty-two meters to the tip of the spires.
The interior of the church displays groined vaults in the Gothic architecture style.The steel columns, walls and ceiling were painted by Lorenzo Rocha and his students to give off a faux-marble and jasper appearance.Trompe l'oeil paintings were used to decorate the interiors of the church. True to the Gothic revival spirit of the church are its confessionals, pulpit, altars and five retablos as designed by Lorenzo Guerrero, as well as Rocha. The sculptor Eusebio García carved the statues of holy men and women.Six holy water fonts were constructed for the church, each crafted from marble obtained from Romblon.
Above the main altar is an image of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, given to the church by Carmelite sisters from Mexico City in 1617 The image withstood all the earthquakes and fires which had destroyed previous incarnations of San Sebastián Church, but its ivory head was stolen in 1975.
Source: wikipedia .org
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