San Agustin Church Named Most Beautiful Building in the Philippines, According to Study

We often forget how beautiful some of our own buildings are. In Intramuros, Manilla, we can our greatest links to the past standing strong to this day. One of which is the San Agustin Church, which apparently has been named the most beautiful building in the Philippines, according to this report.

The website Angi recently compiled reviews on travel site TripAdvisor across 132 countries. It found that, from December 2021 to January 2022, the San Agustin Church, or the Immaculate Conception Parish or Archdiocesan Shrine of Our Lady of Consolation and Cincture, had been called the most beautiful building in the Philippines. The website came up with the data by narrowing down the search results to under architectural buildings, churches, and cathedrals, government buildings, and more.

San Agustin Church, which had been recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1993, is the oldest stone church in the Philippines. Completed in 1607, the church has withstood wars, earthquakes, and more. The definitive features of the San Agustin Church are its high baroque elements, including the retablos, criptocollateral chapels, bell towers, and Trompe-loeil ceiling paintings.

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The list had named the Basilica de la Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain as the most beautiful building in the world, based on TripAdvisor reviews. Coming in second was the Cathedrale Notre-Dame in Paris, France followed by the Biltmore Estate in the United States and the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Rounding out the top five was the Grand Central Terminal in New York.

Most buildings that cracked the top 20 were places of worship and historical landmarks with distinctive architectural styles. These include the Blue Mosque, the Louvre Museum, and the Basilique du Sacre-Couer de Montmartre, among others. Structures in Asia like the Petronas Twin Towers also made the rankings.

This story originally appeared on Esquiremag.ph.

* Minor edits have been made by the Realliving.com.ph editors.