Past Watch Site

The Gothic Revival, all-steel basilica of San Sebastian towers over the congested cityscape of Manila. After earthquakes in 1645, 1762, and 1863 destroyed the first three stone and brick churches erected on this site, Don Genaro Palacios, the Director of Public Works for the Spanish Insular government, recommended a new church be built of steel. Within the church’s apple-green and white façade, flanked by massive spires, San Sebastian’s interior is faux-finished to simulate jasper and marble. Trompe l’oeil of statuary and other iconography, painted by the Academy of Lorenzo Rocha, adorn its walls.  Thirty-four stained glass windows shower the vast nave with rich, warm hues.

Since its completion in 1891, San Sebastian has continued to play a significant religious and social role as the community parish and through its involvement in outreach programs. The innovative steel construction remains unique and reflects the daringness of the design and the skill of local craftsmen. Persistent corrosion, leaks, and material loss threaten the basilica, but its most pervasive threat remains invisible: the structural bracing within cavity walls is severely deteriorating, potentially rendering the stability and continued functionality of San Sebastian precarious.

UPDATE

Since Watch listing, the basilica has received government grants and in-kind professional support totaling $80,000. A fundraising event for the project and for the establishment of Bakás Pilipinas (Philippine Historic Preservation Society) was held in New York in May 2010. In July 2011, the project received a $96,000 award from the Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation of the U.S. Department of State, to continue the major effort to carefully study and document the condition of this one-of-a-kind building. August 2011

RELATED LINK

Conservation of the Interior Finishes of San Sebastian Basilica
by Christine Leggio