Gustave Eiffel’s Prefab Iron Church in Manila

It has its beginnings in 1621 when Don Bernardino Castillo, a generous patron and a well-known devotee of San Sebastian donated his lot for the dream of having a steel church in Asia become a reality. The original church, which was made of wood, was burned in 1651 during a Chinese uprising. The succeeding structures were destroyed by fire and an earthquake in 1859, 1863, and, 1880 destroyed the imposing stone of the church. The exasperated parish priest, Fr. Esteban Martinez approached the Spanish Architect Genero Palacios with a plan to build a fire and earthquake-resistant church made entirely of steel. Ambeth Ocampo states that the present San Sebastian church was ordered knockdown in steel parts from the “Societe Anonime des Enterprises de Travaux Publiques in Brussels, Belgium. The Societe cast all the parts and shipped them piece by piece to Manila, (as what Eiffel did in most of his designs). Two Belgian engineers supervised the construction of the church which was later completed and inaugurated in 1891

However, the catalogues of Gustave Eiffel’s work and the list of the designs and exportation of the church in Manila, Philippines gives 1875 as its date runs counter to the National Historical Institute date of 1891. In any case, it is certain that Eiffel designed the metal structure of the church and it is strongly possible that the Spanish Architect Palacios was the one who designed the San Sebastian Church.

(http://www.artesdelasfilipinas.com/archives.php?page_id=24)

The stained glass windows were imported from theHenri Oidtmann Company, a German stained glass firm, while local artisans assisted in applying the finishing touches of the steel church. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_of_San_Sebastian,_Manila)

The interior of the church display groined vaults.  Styled along neo-Gothic lines, the steel parts of columns, walls and ceiling were painted to resemble marble and jasper by Filipino artist Lorenzo Rocha and his students.  True to the Gothic revival spirit of the church are its confessionals, pulpit and altars as designed by Filipino artist Lorenzo Guerrero.  He with fellow artist Eulogio Garcia carved the statues of holy men and women.  Trompe l’oeil paintings was used to decorate the interiors of the church.

The Church of San Sebastian is a reflection of the late 19^th century innovations in architecture, art and construction.

There is no other example of a prefabricated all-steel church in the Philippines and in Asia.  It is the only known all-steel basilica in this part of the world. (http://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/518/)

Rust and Corrosion threatens the national landmark.

It was declared as such by Presidential Decree 260 and was tentaively included in UNESCO’s World Heritage Site but was subsequently taken out of the list.

In 1998, San Sebastian Church was placed on the biennial watchlist of the 100 Most Endangered Sites by the World Monuments Fund, though it was not retained in the subsequent watchlists  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_of_San_Sebastian,_Manila

The National Center for Culture and Arts should consider restoration of national and Asian monuments such as this in its agenda and lobby for its inclusion in UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites.  There are many old churches worthy of restoration efforts in the Philippines but this should rank very high up in the list.