Ilocos Sur: Museums in Vigan.

Tuesday, March 04, 2014

Plaza Salcedo

I feel sick today, must’ve been the ill-looking guy with red watery eyes who sat beside me on the jeepney on my way to Batac few days back.

I wandered around the center again today, plan is – museum visits – I started with the Burgos Museum (Fr. Burgos is one of the Gomburza martyrs) which is just at the back side of the provincial capitol. I like this museum, aside from the friendly curator, it has a lot of old wooden furniture and photographs.

Just beside the museum is Ilocos Sur Provincial Jail which incidentally is the birthplace of Pres. Elpidio Quirino, it’s a tourist spot too, you’ll be allowed to enter, and I discovered that - apparently in Ilocos, I’m Japanese…LOL! The guy at the entrance commented “Oh, you speak Tagalog” – sure I do!

Continued walking along Calle Crisologo in search of the Syquia Mansion, I’ve seen Elpidio Quirino’s birth house, now, it’s time to see his house along Quirino Blvd – the Syquia Mansion. Paid the entry fee and was instructed not to touch anything - like the word "clumsy" is visibly stamped on my forehead - but photography was allowed.

It’s a really nice mansion with a lot of memorabilia, old furnishings, huge paintings, pretty antique statues, a fountain courtyard, there’s a guide for tourists in group, am not really into it though. Don’t miss this.

Next stop is the Crisologo Museum, located along Liberation Blvd at the end of Calle Crisologo. Entry is free. On display are memorabilia of the late Cong. Floro Crisologo, we remember him as the congressman who established Social Security System and many other bills. The place is the Crisologo family’s house converted into a museum.

There’s a calesa and a vintage car just at the ground floor, a library, so many old photos, newspaper articles, including his assassination at the St. Paul Cathedral, the rooms full of their personal stuff, I scrutinized Cong. Crisologo’s collection of perfume bottles, I might want to purchase one of the brands, ha..ha.

Walked along Calle Crisologo once more, after all it's the main attraction of Vigan, and passing along this street is unavoidable.

As usual I ended the day watching the musical fountain at Plaza Salcedo. It’s free anyway, tell me something amusing and free, I’m on board!

Brief info:

Every first week of May, Vigan plays host to visitors for this festival featuring painting and product exhibits, a Calesa parade, and other cultural activities. [Wikipedia]

Expenses:

Sights	Fr. Burgos Museum entry fee Syquia Mansion entry fee Crisologo Museum entry fee	20 30 Free
Transports	Walk	Free
Hotel	Vigan Hotel Telephone: +63 (77) 722.19.06 Mob.: +63 9155498753 E-mail: jr_ovillanueva@yahoo.com	395