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Santa Catalina's main Roman Catholic church, built during the Spanish era.
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Pagburnayan
Vigan is famous for its burnay jars that have been used as storage material for various wares since the precolonial era. This venue makes these jars, which are made of carabao-kneaded clay and fire-blasted in a huge kiln and allows visitors to try their hand in making their own jars.
also known as the Ayala Museum, this showcases the memorabilia of martyred priest Jose Burgos. Behind the house is the national museum (formerly the Ilocos Sur Provincial Jail), housing other ethnic and Ilocano artifacts such as artifacts, weapons, kitchen utensils, basketry, costumes, jewellery and Burgos memorabilia. There are also some dioramas showing important events in the history of Ilocos Sur, and a mini library. It just so happens to be where the Philippines' first Ilocano president, Elpidio Quirino, was born, his father having been a jail warden.
west of the cathedral features a 17th-century monument to Juan de Salcedo, and was also the site of resistance leader Gabriela Silang's public hanging in 1763. Also within the site at the lagoon is the Vigan Dancing Fountain. This Korean-engineered attraction is the first of its kind in the country, and rivals the Bellagio Water Fountains in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Just adjacent to the Cathedral is the Archbishop's Palace of the Archdiocese of Nueva Segovia, which dates from the 16th century during the Spanish era - the oldest archbishop's residence still in use in the Philippines. It was completed in 1793 after seven years of construction. It features sliding capiz windows and cut-out decorations with floral motifs. It has a back entrance that leads to the nearby Govantes Dike. The palace has a collection of priceless ecclesiastical artifacts and relics from other Ilocos churches.
The belfry of Bantay Church, built during the Spanish era on a hilltop and physically separated from its church as part of its double function as a lookout for pirates and foreign invaders from the South China Sea. The site was declared a National Cultural Treasure by the Philippine government in 2015. Access to the site has been restricted since an earthquake in 2022 that severely damaged the structure.
Vigan Cathedral
The seat of the Archdiocese of Nueva Segovia and built by the Augustinians around 1790, this cathedral features a unique design intended to minimize earthquake damage, called "earthquake baroque". Look out for the brass communion handrails forged in China, complete with Chinese characters scrawled by its ancient installers (if you look closely). The eight-sided bell tower is just south of the cathedral. Its position was actually the safety measure of the earthquake baroque style: it was built separately from the church so that it would not topple into the church in the event of an earthquake. Its eight-sided design reflects its Chinese feng-shui influences. If you look closely inside the cathedral, you can find the tombstone of the great Ilocano poet Leona Florentino (in the column near the entrance facing Plaza Burgos).