Monday, April 01, 2013

Bisita Iglesia - Coastal Cavite


a Cavite coastal town 'baby bus'

A Bisita Iglesia among the churches in the coastal towns of Cavite is a trip down Philippine history. Churches several centuries old stand beside edifices where many of the country’s defining moments in nation-formation happened, if not in the churches themselves. When the Spanish colonizers came the church was used as a means of conquest, and so religion and governance interlapped, and even functioned as one.

The Katipunan flourished in the province, from which emerged the first Philippine president. Incidents of betrayal, which may have changed the course of history and which hound historians to the present time, also happened in coastal Cavite. And Cavite is counted as one of the first eight provinces that first declared revolution against Spain, and so it was consequently immortalized as one of the sun’s rays in the country’s flag. The event that led Cavite into the foray happened in one small coastal town.

Religious fervor will be amply rewarded. One church is a diocesan shrine, while two churches host two miraculous images that have inspired devotion and fealty for centuries. Five of the seven were Jubilee churches by the turn of the millenium.

Architecture enthusiasts will be happy on this route. Most of the churches are in the Baroque style, excellently preserved, and one is neo-Gothic. Houses from the last century intersperse with modern ones along the way.

Coastal Cavite also offers a broad sweep of the food culture in the province. Stands of freshly-caught mussels and oysters adorn the roads leading to the churches, distinctive kakanin and fresh cheese are local favorites and are popular as pasalubong. Dining opportunities also abound in variety, from Spanish to Japanese and continental European, to downright homey local fare.

And the most important is the ease of travel to the province, in and around the area, and between the coastal towns. Coastal Cavite is the nearest region of the province out of Manila, the first town only about 15 kilometers away. Expressways and highways bypass points of heavy vehicular traffic. Inner highways are narrow and sometimes winding, but roads for the entire span of the route are all in mint condition. Each adjoining town goes farther by about an average of only 10 minutes, as each town is just about 3-7 kilometers away from the last.

To fully immerse in the Kabitenyo experience, one can leave the comforts of driving and commute. Taking public transportatioin to go on this route is one of the easiest I've experienced, owing to good roads, the short distances between towns, and the accessibility of provincial air-conditioned buses, the iconic baby buses that connect one town to another, and jeeps that ply the inner streets. Since all the churches are in the center of town in the design of our colonizers (bajo las campanas), they are passed by all manners of public transport.  

So coastal Cavite is worth a visit any day and any time of the year, for other, more pleasurable purposes other than penitential or plenary.

The Churches in the Coastal Cavite Bisita Iglesia
St. Michael the Archangel Church , Bacoor
St. Mary Magdalene Church, Kawit
Holy Cross Chruch, Noveleta
San Roque Church (Shrine of Nuestra Senora Soledad de Porta Vaga), Cavite City
Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Church, Rosario
Santa Cruz Church, Tanza
Diocesan Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Naic


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Bisita Iglesia - Coastal Cavite: Bacoor

St. Michael the Archangel Church
Gen. Evangelista Street, Bacoor, Cavite
The church in Bacoor has a narrow nave, with very thick outer walls made from large stone blocks, making it dark inside even during the daytime. Being inside the church is like being transported in time - the dark, the cold air in spite of the hot summer outside, and the echoes bouncing on the stone walls let me imagine how it is to live in a medieval castle.

The church isn't medieval, though it's old relatively by Philippine church standards, having been built in 1752. Fr. Mariano Gomes, one of the three priests (the Gom in GomBurZa) executed on charges of leading the failed Cavite mutiny in 1872 that fueled national fervor in Filipino revolutionaries, was parish priest of the Bacoor parish for forty years until his arrest by Spanish authorities.  

Historical Significance
Bacoor was the first seat of the Philippine Revolutionary Government after the declaration of independence in 1898. A stone's throw away from the St. Michael church, a hundred meters or so back along Gen. Evangelista St., is the house that served as the government's headquarters. It can be recognized with the  Philippine flag that flies on its front and an identification marker at the ground level, but it's not publicly accessible as it is still used as a residential abode.

Pit Stops
- Just by the side of the church, at the war veterans' memorial, is a cart full of pans of still warm cassava pudding that's not to be missed. Sample slices are sold for Php13 each, while a full pan costs Php100. The cassava is unctuously malagkit, as with the creamy, caramelly topping. I rooted for the burnt topping at the edges.
- Within walking distance from the church is the Digman sitio, where several establishments serve up Digman halo-halo with a dozen ingredients. Walk down the street (J. Ocampo) fronting the cassava pudding kiosk, passing about three corner alleys. Turn left at the dead-end. The halo-haluans are clustered in the near corner.
- Farther along Gen. Evangelista Street, just before it turns left onto Mabolo is a pasalubong center of OTOP products. Very Kabitenyo are the tahong and luyang dilaw chips, but there are other flavors - carrot, malunggay, ampalaya, saluyot. Crispy tahong in pouches and bottled adobong tahong and various pickled vegetables complete the line-up.


Directions
From Manila
By Private Vehicle
- Bacoor is approximately 17 kms. southwest of Manila, traversing Coastal Road (Pasay City & Las Pinas) and a very short span of the Aguinaldo Highway. Towards the end of Coastal Road in Las Pinas take the fly-over going into Aguinaldo Highway by taking the right turn. After the Shell gas station the Aguinaldo highway turns right then curves to the left. Take the first right corner (Talaba) and drive straight onto Gen. Evangelista Street. You will pass by the Bacoor public cemetery and the Eternity memorial park, and a Ministop convenience store. The church is on the right side, just beside the war veterans' memorial, and in front of the city hall across the street.
By Public Transportation
- Board an air-conditioned bus passing by Aguinaldo Highway (signboards Tagaytay, Mendez, Imus, Dasmarinas, Nasugbu), which get passengers along EDSA from Cubao/Ortigas, and along Taft Avenue, Quirino and Roxas Boulevard from Plaza Lawton. Get off at Talaba, Bacoor a few hundred meters from the flyover at the end of Coastal Road passing by Shell gas station. Board a jeep waiting just at the  mouth of Gen. Evangelista Street, with the signboard Binakayan. Ask to be let off at the Bacoor church.  




The Other Churches in the Coastal Cavite Bisita Iglesia
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Bisita Iglesia - Coastal Cavite: Kawit

St. Mary Magdalene Parish Church
Km. Post 23, Tirona Highway, Wakas, Kawit, Cavite
One of the oldest churches in the Philippines, the original church in Kawit is still almost intact. Built in 1638, its facade and thick walls are made of red brick. Thick stone buttresses projecting from the outer walls on both sides of the church reinforced it so it was untouched by the earthquakes that ravaged other old ones in the country. 


Among all the churches in coastal Cavite, only the St. Magdalene church is adorned with stations of the cross rendered in stained glass, that serve as the center point of the glass windows all around the outer walls. 
The church is open only during mass (6AM, 4:30PM, 6PM daily) owing to past thefts. 
Historical Significance
The Kawit church was where the first Philippine president Emilio Aguinaldo was baptized. His birth certificate is on display in the museum at the back of the church.

A stone's throw away, back a few hundred meters, is the Aguinaldo shrine, where the Philippine flag was first raised upon the declaration of Philippine independence from Spanish rule, on June 12, 1898. It is just the original place, though, since the building, which was the ancestral house of the family of former president Aguinaldo, has since been enlarged, and presently sports pink painting including its perimeter walls. Inside, turn of the century spacious dining and receiving areas have thankfully been preserved, including the thick narra furniture.  

Pit Stops
- Just before the turn to the Aguinaldo shrine is Neng's Bibingka, serving thick, galapong bibingka that's as big as platters.
- A few meters from the church, across the road, is a milk tea counter inside an internet gaming station. The drinks at Milk 'n Tea Way are unimpressive, but the rock salt & cheese iced dark chocolate is remarkable, and I'd like to go back for the caramel variant.
- The Tirona Highway, on which the Kawit church is located, turns left then right and becomes the Magdiwang Highway on the way to the adjoining town of Noveleta. Here is where the original Josephine's restaurant is located, amidst fishponds. 
- Just before the Kawit fire station is the Japanese restaurant Sasahama, frequented by Japanese investors in the locators at the Cavite Export Processing Zone. 
Directions
From the last Bisita Iglesia church - Bacoor
About 6 kilometers south-southwest
By Private Vehicle
- Turn right from the church and go along the street, turning right at the rotonda in Mabolo - marked Freedom Park Bacoor - onto Tirona Highway. Go straight until the right turn at Gahak in Kawit, which circumscribes the Aguinaldo shrine. The church is right at km. post 23, after the right turn from the shrine.
By Public Transportation
- On the street in front of the Bacoor church, flag a jeep going to Binakayan. Get off at the Mabolo rotonda (Freedom Park Bacoor), and there board a baby bus going to Cavite City. Ask to  be let off at the Kawit church.   
From Manila
By Private Vehicle
- Kawit is 23 kms. out of Manila, traversing Coastal Road (Pasay City & Las Pinas), Cavitex (Manila Cavite Expressway), and the Tirona highway. At the junction just out of Cavitex turn right onto Tirona Highway, skirting the Aguinaldo House, then right to Wakas. The church is on the right side just at the km. post 23. 
By Public Transportation
- Air-conditioned buses with the signboard Cavite City get passengers starting from Plaza Lawton (Liwasang Bonifacio) in Manila, traversing Taft Avenue, turning  to Quirino Avenue, then left onto Roxas Boulevard and then on to the Coastal Road,  Cavitex, and the Tirona highway. The buses pass right by the Kawit church.  

The Other Churches in the Coastal Cavite Bisita Iglesia

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Bisita Iglesia - Coastal Cavite: Noveleta


Holy Cross Parish Church
Noveleta, Cavite
The Catholic church in Noveleta is the newest among all the seven churches in this series, being only about 75 years old. It is relatively small, its size and cozy, homey, modernist feel more apt for a village chapel than the impersonal detachment of a parish church.


Historical Significance
About ten meters back from the Noveleta church, in front of the public market, is the former Noveleta tribunal, preserved from the 19th century. It is historically significant for the entire province, for this was where Gen. Pascual Alvarez of the Sangguniang Magdiwang killed the captain and adjutant of the town's Guardia Civil. Their soldiers were taken as prisoners by the Magdiwang rebels. This event jump-started the indio rebellion in  Cavite,  responsible for making the province eternally shining on the Philippine flag as one of the sun's eight rays. 


Pit Stop
About 250 meters before the town proper, right at the foot of Noveleta Bridge and just before km.post 27 is a restaurant that was built to pay homage to historic Cavite and the Philippine Revolution. Various historical knick-knacks repose on its walls, and its signature dishes were named after the major personalities in the fight for freedom. A large patio hosting landscaped gardens is an inviting  place to take a breather before the next leg of the journey.

The menu, though, is mostly European, the local country only scantily represented. But the few Pinoy  dishes are all worth checking out, particularly the tuka turmeric, thinly sliced stingray in a thick stew dyed with luyang dilaw and liberally sprinkled with chopped red sili.
Directions
From the last Bisita Iglesia church - Kawit
About 4.2 kilometers south-southwest
By Private Vehicle
- Turn right from the church and go along the highway. After the Noveleta town hall turn left at the corner where GSIS Family Bank is, into the alley going to the public market and the two-storey former Noveleta tribunal, then turn right. The church will be a few meters on.  
By Public Transportation
- At the waiting shed in front of the Kawit church along the Tirona Highway flag a baby bus whatever its signboard is. Get off at the junction after the Noveleta town hall and cross the road into the alley at the right side of the town hall, at the corner of which is the GSIS Family Bank. Walk on, turning right after the tribunal museum. The church is at the right side.   
From Manila
By Private Vehicle
- Noveleta is about 27 kms. out of Manila, traversing Coastal Road (Pasay City & Las Pinas), Cavitex (Manila Cavite Expressway), and the Tirona and Magdiwang Highways. At the junction just out of Cavitex turn right onto Tirona Highway, skirting the Aguinaldo House, right then left then right again onto Magdiwang Highway and on to Noveleta. After the Noveleta town hall turn left at the corner where the GSIS Family Bank is, passing through the public market and the tribunal museum. Turn right and watch out for the church a few meters on, on the right side. 
By Public Transportation
- Air-conditioned buses with the signboard Cavite City get passengers starting from Plaza Lawton (Liwasang Bonifacio) in Manila, traversing Taft Avenue, turning  to Quirino Avenue, then left onto Roxas Boulevard and then on to the Coastal Road,  Cavitex, and the Tirona and Magdiwang Highways. Get off in front of Mercury drug store/Shell gas station, when the bus conductor shouts "Noveleta!" Walk a few meters on towards the Noveleta town hall on the left, passing by Jollibee then 7-11 to the right. Cross the road towards the right side of the town hall onto the alley where GSIS Family Bank sits in the corner. Turn right after the tribunal museum and walk on a few meters towards the church, which is on the right side. 

The Other Churches in the Coastal Cavite Bisita Iglesia
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Bisita Iglesia - Coastal Cavite: Cavite City

San Roque Church
(Nuestra Senora Soledad de Porta Vaga Shrine) 
Burgos Avenue, Cavite City
The San Roque church is a work in progress. The outer walls' stained glass windows have just recently been unveiled. The church was established more than three hundred years ago and has undergone numerous renovations and refurbishings since then. Its facade and bell tower can be seen from many points along the way on the road to the city, from as far as Coastal Road.

The San Roque church hosts the more than four-hundred-year old painting of the Nuestra Senora Soledad de Porta Vaga,  known to be to the oldest Marian painting in the country today. It used to send off galleons going to Mexico during the Manila-Acapulco trade.

The devotion to the Marian image became encompassing that it was recognized not only as the patroness of Cavite City but also of the entire province of Cavite. Long lines of local residents paying their respect to the image form after masses, and buses of pilgrims crowd the avenue fronting the church on feast days and during Lent. 

Historical Significance - Cavite City
The city was founded more than four hundred years ago. It had been a significant ship port since the Spanish colonial times. Two galleons used for the Manila-Acapulco galleon trade were built at the Cavite City shipyard in the early 1600s. Two forts were also built, one of which now serves as a Philippine Navy base (Fort San Felipe). The city functioned as the provincial capital during the first half of the 20th century. The Americans established the Naval Station Sangley Point after World War II, which was heavily used as a take-off point during the Vietnam War. Sangley Base was turned over to the Philippines in the early 1970s, and is now operated by the Philippine Navy (Naval Base Heracleo Alano) and Philippine Air Force (Danilo Atienza Air Base).

Pit Stops
- Aling Ika's Carinderia, at the public market, for an incomparable bibingkoy.
- Dizon's Bakery, along Burgos Avenue near Jollibee for distinctly southern Tagalog tamales, pre-war cookies kenkoy, and the Cavite fresh cheese kasilyo.
- Asiong's Carinderia, on Paterno Street at the back of BPI on Burgos for pancit choko en su tinta, tamarind jam, buko-pandan salad and  seafood adobo cooked Cavite style.
- Samala, on Padre Pio Street, for bibingkang Cavite, sapin-sapin, and pichi-pichi.
- Asao, along Burgos Avenue near McDonald's, for pancit puso.
- Fresh tahong and oysters lining the road just outside the Naval Base Heracleo Alano in Sangley Point.


Directions
From the last Bisita Iglesia church - Noveleta
About 7 kilometers north-northeast
By Private Vehicle
- Go back to the junction and go straight onto the Manila-Cavite Road. At McDonald's Cavite City turn right onto Burgos Avenue. The San Roque church is about 1 1/2 kms. away. 
By Public Transportation
- Walk back to the junction and board a baby bus with the signboard Cavite City. Get off  in front of Mercury Drugstore, before the bus turns right to the Cavite City public market,and walk along Burgos Avenue. The church is about 200 meters on.   
From Manila
By Private Vehicle
- Cavite City is about 33 kms. out of Manila, traversing Coastal Road (Pasay City & Las Pinas), Cavitex (Manila Cavite Expressway), and the Tirona and Magdiwang Highways. At the junction just out of Cavitex turn right onto Tirona Highway, skirting the Aguinaldo House, right then left then right again onto Magdiwang Highway and on to Noveleta. After the Noveleta town hall turn right onto the Manila-Cavite Road. Stay on this road entering the Cavite City arch and passing the Julian Felipe marker to the left. At McDonald's turn right onto Burgos Avenue. The church is about 1 1/2 kms. on. 
By Public Transportation
- Air-conditioned buses with the signboard Cavite City get passengers starting from Plaza Lawton (Liwasang Bonifacio) in Manila, traversing Taft Avenue, turning  to Quirino Avenue, then left onto Roxas Boulevard and then on to the Coastal Road,  Cavitex, and the Tirona and Magdiwang Highways. Get off at McDonald's Cavite City and board a jeep going either to PN or San Antonio. Both passes by the San Roque church.

The Other Churches in the Coastal Cavite Bisita Iglesia

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Bisita Iglesia - Coastal Cavite: Rosario


Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Church
Marseilla Street corner Gen. Trias Drive, Rosario, Cavite 
The town of Rosario was named after its patron saint, Nuestra Senora Virgen del Santissimo Rosario, Reina de Caracol. The parish church is the shrine of a miraculous image of the Madonna and Child, said to be an early 1800s painting by a famous Filipino artist, Faustino Quiotang. 

The image is enshrined at the main altar, with a replica lording over a small chapel adjacent to the right nave of the church for private devotions. A steel fishing net serves as a veil over the icon, held on both ends by two fishermen, in a nod to the main source of livelihood for the people in the municipality. Devotion to the icon came about when the crew of a sinking batel during an extraordinarily violent storm prayed to the image which was aboard at that time, and they were all spared, washed ashore in a sitio of the town. 

A makeshift chapel made of bamboo and wood was built in the sitio for the image, but legend says some boys who liked to swim at the beach found the image afloat again and again. So the townspeople transferred the icon inland, building a more permanent structure for the painting. 

When the devotion to the Madonna grew it wasn't long before the barrio, called Tejero, where the church was built was declared a parish. This was in 1845, and it prompted the Spanish regime to cede the barrio, decreeing it a new municipality a year later. 

Caracol is a big celebration in Rosario during the feast months of the Virgin Mary, May and October. There's a fluvial procession, caracol del mar, as well as street dancing, caracol del tierra. The street dancing is also observed in most coastal towns in Cavite, and it's an awesome sight to see middle-aged men and women dancing in the streets carrying a santo.  The dance steps are constant, and it looks like one step forward and two steps backward, that the entourage never seems to go along. But the acceptance of the devotion and its caracol is evident in the way commercial buses full of passengers and private vehicles would stop for as long as an hour during caracol time, as the caracol route is normally along major thoroughfares.
On the other side of the Rosario church is another adjacent chapel that houses the stations of the cross. What makes the Rosario church unique is that the stations of the cross culminate with the Risen Christ at the altar in the center of the chapel.
a colossal banyan tree at the church courtyard, in the midst of which is a statue of the Virgin Mary


*With a clean public CR by the multi-purpose hall.

Directions
From the last Bisita Iglesia church - Cavite City
About 10 kilometers south-southwest.
By Private Vehicle
- In Cavite City go back  along Burgos Avenue, passing by McDonalds to your left, and straight out of the city arch and onto the Manila-Cavite Road. Turn right at the junction in Noveleta onto Marseilla Street. Go straight along the road - the church is at the back of the town plaza to the left just before Gen. Trias Drive, about 3 kms. from the junction.
By Public Transportation
- Walk back to Mercury Drug in front of the pathway to the Cavite City public market, and board a baby bus with the signboard Tanza/Salinas. Ask to be let off at the Rosario town plaza, and cross the street to the back of the plaza where the Rosario church is.  
From Manila
By Private Vehicle
- Rosario is about 30 kms. out of Manila, traversing Coastal Road (Pasay City & Las Pinas), Cavitex (Manila Cavite Expressway), and Centennial Road (EPZA Diversion Road). At the end of the Centennial Road by the junction in General Trias turn right onto Gen. Trias Drive. Go straight, passing by SM Rosario, then turn right by the town plaza onto Marseilla Street. The immediate right corner by the perimeter of the town plaza is the alley leading to the Rosario church.
By Public Transportation
- Air-conditioned buses with signboards Naic/Ternate/Maragondon get passengers starting from Plaza Lawton (Liwasang Bonifacio) in Manila, traversing Taft Avenue, turning  to Quirino Avenue, then left onto Roxas Boulevard and then on to the Coastal Road,  Cavitex, and the Centennial Road. Get off at Gen. Trias at the junction of the highway, and board a baby bus with the signboard SM Rosario/Cavite City. Get off at the Rosario town plaza just a few minutes after SM Rosario. Walk to the back of the town plaza to the Rosario church.


The Other Churches in the Coastal Cavite Bisita Iglesia
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Bisita Iglesia - Coastal Cavite - Tanza

Holy Cross Church
Calle Sta. Cruz, Tanza, Cavite 
The church in Tanza sits at the end of Santa Cruz Street, fronting the small town plaza, away from the bustle of the highway where many commercial establishments and restaurants have sprouted. It is an imposing edifice in the Baroque style, the facade, like most of the churches in this Bisita Iglesia, is nondescript.


Historical Significance
Emilio Aguinaldo and Mariano Trias took their oaths as the  president and vice president, respectively, of the Revolutionary Government of the Philippines on March 23, 1897, in the convent of the Santa Cruz (Holy Cross) church.
Seafood paella, individual portion at Calle Real Puregold

Pit Stop
A hundred meters back along Calle Sta. Cruz is the Calle Real Restaurant, which serves homey Filipino dishes and several variants of paella, including a squid ink version. Above the restaurant is a finely preserved ancestral house called Casa Tahimic, which is worth checking out.



Directions
From the last Bisita Iglesia church - Rosario
About 5 kilometers south-southwest.
By Private Vehicle
- From Rosario church turn onto Gen. Trias Drive by the municipal hall going to SM Rosario. Go straight until the Centennial Road, then turn right onto the Antero Soriano Highway. A few hundred meters on will be the Tejero bridge, after which is the Tanza public cemetery. Turn right by the yellow-walled side of the cemetery onto Calle Sta. Cruz, and go straight. The church is at the dead-end of the street.
By Public Transportation
- Walk to the front of the Rosario town plaza and board a baby bus going to Tanza. The bus goes right at the gate of the Tanza church.
From Manila
By Private Vehicle
- Tanza is about 34 kms. out of Manila, traversing Coastal Road (Pasay City & Las Pinas), Cavitex (Manila Cavite Expressway), Centennial Road (EPZA Diversion Road), and the Antero Soriano Highway. The Centennial Road ends at General Trias where it is crossed by the Gen. Trias Drive and continues as the Antero Soriano Highway. A few hundred meters after the junction is the Tejero bridge, right after which is the Tanza public cemetery. Turn right at the first corner by the side of the cemetery, which should be Calle Sta. Cruz. The Tanza church is at the dead end.
By Public Transportation
- Air-conditioned buses with signboards Naic/Ternate/Maragondon get passengers starting from Plaza Lawton (Liwasang Bonifacio) in Manila, traversing Taft Avenue, turning to Quirino Avenue, then left onto Roxas Boulevard and then on to the Coastal Road, Cavitex, Centennial Road and the Antero Soriano Highway. Get off at Calle Sta. Cruz, right at the foot of the Tejero bridge and by the Tanza public cemetery. Flag a jeep or baby bus going into Calle Sta. Cruz, which go right at the gate of the Tanza church.


The Other Churches in the Coastal Cavite Bisita Iglesia
St. Michael the Archangel Church, Bacoor
St. Mary Magdalene Church, Kawit
Holy Cross Church, Noveleta
San Roque Church (Nuestra Senora Soledad de Porta Vaga Shrine), Cavite City
Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Church, Rosario
Diocesan Shrine of the Immaculate Conception Church, Naic
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Bisita Iglesia - Coastal Cavite: Naic

Diocesan Shrine of the Immaculate Conception
P. Poblete Street, Naic, Cavite
The parish church in the municipality of Naic is the largest church in the province of Cavite, and the only one built in the Neo-Gothic style. It was one of the jubilee churches in Cavite during the last Jubilee Year (2000).
It was unfortunate that when we got there the facade was undergoing a facelift, covered in a spiderweb tangle of scaffoldings. But the convent, to the church's right side, and its maginificent courtyard more than made up for our disappointment.  
The convent, or at least the dining and receiving areas, had large capiz windows that were opened to let in the brisk breeze. Looking inside and seeing the waxed hardwood floors and the heavy narra furniture I felt transported to the time of panuelos and karitelas drawn over cobblestone streets.

In this convent was written the  morally instructive book Urbana at Felisa (p. 1864) by the former parish priest Modesto De Castro. The book was celebrated in its time, and affords present readers with a look into nineteenth century societal structures.
The colossal stone blocks making up the outer walls belie the church's age, having been built by the Dominicans in 1796. A patio is lined with meditation benches, and surrounded by bas reliefs of all the mysteries of the holy rosary. All around flowering ornamentals explode in a riot of vibrant colors, growing lush in an arbor shading a walkway. Mayas dive and lunge from the roof, unmindful and unafraid, their ceaseless chattering joining the pigeons and hens with their broods in a rupture of joyful clamor.  
Inside the church beautiful stained glass windows adorning the walls all around let in light, highlighting the elegantly carved wooden altars in the sanctuary and both sides of the transept.  The reason why this is a piligrimage church need not be explained to me - I would make the journey to experience again the serenity I felt inside the church and in the convent patio.

*With a clean public CR at the convent patio.

Historical Significance
Casa Hacienda de Naic (beside the church)
- where Andres Bonifacio was tried and imprisoned
- where Emilio Aguinaldo designed his flag "Sun of Liberty," and when he became the first president this is where he established the four departments of his cabinet.

Pit Stop
Across the covered court are refreshment carts selling Naic's muche, neon orange-hued thick discs of fried rice dough filled with sweetened mashed mung beans (monggo). Nice afternoon crispy treat newly fried, but the dough tends to harden after a few hours.



Directions
From the last Bisita Iglesia church - Tanza
About 13 kilometers south-southwest.
By Private Vehicle
- From the gate of the Tanza church turn right onto San Agustin Street to go back to Antero Soriano Highway, passing by Felipe Calderon Elementary School and the Tanza National Comprehensive High School, and an Iglesia ni Cristo church.Turn right at the junction where Mc Donalds is across the street, then go straight along the highway, and onto the Naic-Ternate Road. The church is beside a covered auditorium/basketball court.
- By Public Transportation
Walk to the town plaza in front of the Tanza church and flag a jeep with the signboard Bacao-Binakayan, or a baby bus with the signboard SM Rosario/Cavite City, or tell a tricycle driver to take you to where you can catch a ride to Naic. Get off at Antero Soriano Highway (on the same side as Jollibee/Lots'a Pizza/Puregold, across the road from McDonalds), and flag a bus with the signboard Naic/Ternate/Maragondon. Towards Naic buses turn left at the junction by a Petron gas station. Get off at Petron, then board a tricycle for Naic church.
From Manila
By Private Vehicle
- Naic is 47 kms. out of Manila, traversing Coastal Road (Pasay City & Las Pinas), Cavitex (Manila Cavite Expressway), Centennial Road (EPZA Diversion Road), and the Antero Soriano Highway.
By Public Transportation
- Air-conditioned buses with signboards Naic/Ternate/Maragondon get passengers starting from Plaza Lawton (Liwasang Bonifacio), traversing Taft Avenue, turning to Quirino Avenue, then left onto Roxas Boulevard and then on to the Coastal Road,  Cavitex and the Antero Soriano Highway. Get off at the fork to the Naic poblacion by a Petron gas station, then board a tricycle for the church. 

The Other Churches in the Coastal Cavite Bisita Iglesia
St. Michael the Archangel Church, Bacoor
St. Mary Magdalene Church, Kawit
Holy Cross Church, Noveleta
San Roque Church (Nuestra Senora Soledad de Porta Vaga Shrine), Cavite City
Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Church, Rosario
Holy Cross Church, Tanza
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