Santa Ana Church (Manila)

The Santa Ana Church, also known as the Parish of

Our Lady of the Abandoned (Spanish: Parroquia de
Nuestra Seora de los Desamparados), is a Spanish colonial period church located in the district of Santa Ana in
Manila, Philippines. The parish was established by the
Franciscan missionaries in 1578 under the patronage of
Saint Anne. The present stone church was constructed
by Father Vicente Ingls, OFM from 1720 to 1725 and
was dedicated to its present patron, the Our Lady of the
Abandoned. The revered image of its patron came from
Spain and arrived in the Philippines in 1717.

venerated in Santa Ana since then. In time, the parish

became known as Our Lady of the Abandoned Parish, as
it is today, though St. Anne still is honored in the church
with a statue of her with the child Mary in a niche directly
above the image of Our Lady of the Abandoned.[3]
The Santa Ana Church also served as barracks for
the wounded American soldiers during the PhilippineAmerican War in 1899.[2]

2 Architecture

The church houses two National Cultural Treasures declared by the National Museum of the Philippines; the
Santa Ana Site Museum located in the convent patio and The church structure follows the Baroque architectural
the Camarn de la Virgen (or the Dressing Room of the style, utilizing adobe blocks in its wall surface nish
to give an impression of massiveness.[4] Its oor plan
Virgin).
formed the shape of a Latin cross oriented in northsouth direction, with the main entrance facing north.
The church facade is divided into three levels by heav1 History
ily molded string courses. The topmost level or the pediment is adorned with Vitruvian-scroll design on its rakThe town of Santa Ana was rst established by the Span- ing cornice, and a central niche anked with octagonal
ish Franciscan missionaries in 1578, in a settlement be- windows.[4] The second level is composed of semicircuside a creek connecting to the Pasig River, which the lo- lar arched windows covered with stained glass. The lowcal inhabitants referred to as Spa. Its rst church, ded- ermost level is the main entrance anked with two niches
icated to their titular patroness Saint Anne, was made of containing the statues of St. Anne and St. Joachim, the
nipa and bamboo until a decree from the Colonial Gov- parents of the Virgin Mary. The ornamentation is mostly
ernment in 1599 permitted the religious order to build the found in the frames of lateral niches and the moldings
church in stone.[1] However, the construction came only in the cornices and the apertures.[2] Attached to the right
around 1720 upon the direction of then parish priest of side of the structure next to the church facade is the fourSanta Ana Fr. Vicente Ingls, OFM wherein a new site oored octagonal bell tower, also made of adobe blocks
was chosen, which is the current location of the struc- and were embellished by heavy string courses and other
ture. Dedicated to Our Lady of the Abandoned (Nuestra ornamentation.
Seora de los Desamparados), the building of the stone
church began in September 12, 1720 with the laying of
the cornerstone by Governor General and Archbishop of
3 Notable Features and CompoManila Francisco de la Cuesta, OSA.[1] The construction
nents
took ve years to nish, with the total cost of 33,000 including the donation of the Governor General amounting
to four thousand pesos.[1][2]
3.1 Baptistery
In the early 1700s, Fr. Ingls went to Valencia, Spain.
The friar had been very enamored of a famous image of
Our Lady that had become a popular spiritual attraction
in Valencia. The image was known as the Our Lady of the
Abandoned. While Fr. Ingls was in Valencia, in the year
1713 he decided to have a copy of this image for Santa
Ana Parish, which was in the process of being constructed
near Manila. After reverently touching the copy to the
original image, the friar brought the new replica image
with him to the Philippines in 1717. The image has been

The baptistery or bautisterio is located at the base of the

bell tower on the right side of the vestibule or entrance
hall. Inside the small room contains the marble baptismal font and a Neoclassical retablo featuring the painting of the Baptism of Christ,[5] framed by two Corinthian
columns on each side. Conservation eorts on the Santa
Ana church revealed that two paintings have actually
adorned the retablo of the baptistery. The rst painting one was done on wood, which depicted Saint John
1

NOTABLE FEATURES AND COMPONENTS

3.3 Dome Interior

the Baptist pouring water on Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit

(symbolized by the dove) together with cherubs above
them, and two angels holding a red cloak to cover Jesus.
The wooden painting was later covered with the painting
on metal, which most likely dated around 1938.[6] The
second painting has much simpler depiction, composing
of only St. John the Baptist, Jesus Christ and the Holy
Spirit above them.

The interior of the dome structure located above the

transept crossing has two layers of balconies. Sixteen
paintings depicting Jesus, the twelve apostles (with Saint
Matthias instead of Judas Iscariot), the evangelists Saint
Mark and Saint Luke, and Saint Paul decorated the rst
level balcony.[2]

3.2

3.4 Camarn de la Virgen

Retablo

The Camarn de la Virgen (also Dressing Room of the

Virgin) is a chapel room located behind the second level
of the retablo where the image of Our Lady of the Abandoned is placed. It was built around the same period
as the Santa Ana church (c. 17201725) and has retained much of its features.[2][7] One can actually view
the nave of the church from the octagonal vaulted niche
(hornacina) where the Marian image stands. Its high
arched opening is crested with a large silver corona imperial (imperial crown). Below the hornacina is a semicircular gilded platform, which is said to be a part of the
galleon that brought the image of Our Lady of the Abandoned from Valencia, Spain all the way to Manila the
Santo Cristo de Burgos. Wooden steps anked the platform, where devotees used to climb to kiss the image.
At present, only the Virgins long cape was allowed to
be touched or kissed. Very notable in this structure are
the paintings on the ceiling and on the entrance, which
are believed to be as old as the Camarn and the church
itself. The art tradition of these paintings belonged to
the short-lived Estampita Age of Filipino-Spanish art.[7]
The entrance paintings depict the life-size images of the
archangels Saint Michael and Saint Gabriel guarding the
door, also painted with a heavenly scene. The ceiling
paintings contained an image of Heaven at the center surrounded by eleven segments of painting depicting scenes
The retablo of the church
from the lives of Mary and Jesus, from Marys betrothal
to Joseph to the Baptism of Jesus. The central painting of
The main altarpiece or the retablo is in churrigueresque
Heaven portrays the Holy Trinity and the kneeling Virgin
style, characterized by heavy ornamentation, which is furMary, with cherubs and angels on both sides.[2]
ther highlighted by gold leaf on its details. It has thirteen niches, framed with solomonic and churrigueresque
''Inside Camarn de la Virgen''
columns.[2] The tabernacle or sagrario occupied the central niche at the lower level and is anked by Franciscan

Saints, namely Saint Bonaventure , Saint Peter of Alcantara, Saint Bernardino of Siena and Saint Clare. The cen
tral niche of the second or main level is occupied by Our
Lady of the Abandoned at the center, which is anked

by the images of Saint Dominic and Saint Francis of Assisi, founders of Catholic religious orders, and Biblical

gures Saint John the Baptist and Saint John the Evangelist. The upper level niches contained the images of Saint
Anne (the titular patron of Santa Ana district) at the cen- Due to the preservation of the structure as well as the irter with Saint Peter and Saint Paul on its sides. At the top replaceable value of its paintings, which were considered
the retablo is the image of Saint Michael the Archangel, the oldest datable, the Camarn de la Virgen was declared
which is anked by medallions containing the painted im- a National Cultural Treasure on November 2008 by the
National Museum of the Philippines.[7]
ages of Saint Didacus and Saint Paschal Baylon.

3.5

Pozo de la Virgen

Santa Ana Church Convent

Interior of the Capillita de la Virgen del Pozo

Located at the back of the Santa Ana Church is the Capillita de la Virgen del Pozo (Small Chapel of the Virgin of
the Well). Better known as the Pozo de la Virgen (Well
of the Virgin), it housed a well or spring, which was believed to contain healing waters.The exact date of its construction is currently unknown, although it was generally
assumed to be around the 18th century; almost the same
period as the building of the Santa Ana Church.[8] The
Pozo de la Virgen enshrines an 18th-century wood and
ivory relieve image of the Our Lady of the Abandoned,[8]
placed in a low niche and appeared to be guarding the sacred well which was in front of it. A wooden trap door,
which has occupied most of the oor space, opens the
passage to the well. There are ten stone steps that leads
to the water level,[2] which was contained within a small
stone-and-concrete arched chamber.

patio. Above the cloister is a wooden corridor with

capiz and glass windows and high doors leading to the
priests quarters, the choir loft and a room previously used
as a library.[2] In 1966, archaeological excavations have
been conducted by the National Museum of the Philippines on the patio and the churchyard, uncovering 71 human burials dating around late 11th to 14th century AD
from the associated Chinese ceramics recovered with the
graves.[10] The bulk of data gathered regarding the preHispanic culture of Santa Ana (known as the ancient settlement of Namayan[1] ) led to the construction of a site
museum in the patio, which was later declared as a National Cultural Treasure on August 1973 by the virtue of
Presidential Decree No. 260.[11]

4 Historical and Cultural Declarations

During the typhoid epidemic in 1920, the well was forced

to be closed down due to sanitary concerns and during
the 197785 renovations it was eventually cemented over
and decorated with broken tiles from the Camarin de la
Virgen.[2][9] In 2011 the Pozo de la Virgen was reopened
Historical Marker of Santa Ana Church
after 92 years of being hidden from the public.[8]

3.6

Convent and Patio

Adjoining the Santa Ana church is the convent, which

was also built on the same period as the church under
the direction of Fr. Vicente Ingles.[1] The ground oor
is a stone and clay tile cloister surrounding the grassy

The Santa Ana Church has been designated by the

National Historical Commission of the Philippines (then
Philippine Historical Research and Markers Committee)
as a Historic Building in 1936 with a historical marker
for being the rst Franciscan mission established outside
Manila.[12] The Santa Ana Site Museum located in the
convent patio and the Camarn de la Virgen was declared

as a National Cultural Treasure on August 1973 by President Ferdinand Marcos.[11]

References

[1] Huerta, Felix de (1865). Estado geogrco, topogrco,

estadstico, histrico-religioso. Binondo: Imprenta de M.
Sanchez y Ca.
[2] Laya, Jaime C. (2008). Santa Ana Church of Manila:
Parish of Our Lady of the Abandoned: A Historical Guide.
Manila: Cofrada de la Inmaculada Concepcin Foundation.
[3] Wintz, Jack. Philippine Diary: The Old Franciscan
Church in Santa Ana. American Catholic.
[4] Alarcon, Norma I. (1991). Philippine Architecture During the Pre-Spanish and Spanish Periods. Manila: Santo
Tomas University Press. ISBN 971-506-040-4.
[5] Laya, Jaime C. (30 August 2009). Wala Lang: Excitement in Sta. Ana. Retrieved 9 May 2014.
[6] Laya, Jaime C. (May 4, 2010). Restoration and Conservation Work at Manilas Shrine of Nstra. Sra. De Los
Samparados. Retrieved 9 May 2014.
[7] National Museum of the Philippines.
2009. Retrieved 10 May 2014.

Annual Report

[8] Austria, Jose Alain (2013). Virgen de los Desamparados/del Pozo: Sacred Space, Syncretism and the Geopolitics of Healing Water. MANILA: Selected Papers of the
MSA 21st Annual Conference.
[9] Laya, Jaime C. (July 518, 2011). The Virgins Well, the
Temple to Pao Ong Hu and to the Mother of Sta. Ana.
Tulay: Chinese-Filipino Digest. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
[10] Fox, Robert B.; Legaspi, Avelino (1977). Excavations at
Santa Ana. Manila: National Museum of the Philippines.
[11] Presidential Decree No. 260 August 1, 1973. The LawPhil Project. Arellano Law Foundation. Retrieved 10 May
2014.
[12] Historical Markers: Metropolitan Manila. National Historical Institute. 1993. p. 210. ISBN 971-538-046-8.
Retrieved October 16, 2014.

External links

EXTERNAL LINKS

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

7.1

Text

Santa Ana Church (Manila) Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa%20Ana%20Church%20(Manila)?oldid=641349060 Contributors: Bearcat, Marcus Cyron, Anime, Gadget850, Ser Amantio di Nicolao, Mr Stephen, CommonsDelinker, Yobot, Xqbot, RioHondo,
Byralaal, Urbanroamer, Ngiping kidlat, Carlojoseph14 and Anonymous: 1

7.2

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File:Coat_of_Arms_of_the_Archdiocese_of_Manila.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/43/Coat_of_

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7.3

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