Viva Vigan! 'Binatbatan' Festival of the Arts

offers a wonderful glimpse into the Philippines' colonial past. The ancestral houses were mostly built by Chinese traders using a mixture of local, Asian and Spanish architectural styles. Movie fans recognize the streets from the movie Born on the Fourth of July. If someone looks closely, there are still evidence left from the shooting, e.g. signs in Spanish but hastily and thinly painted over with white paint.

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).

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.

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.

is a favorite hang out for locals and is also used for staging major public events. It has also food stalls selling local snacks, especially the empanada. It is next to Vigan Cathedral and dedicated to the memory of Father Jose Burgos. Depending on the weather, the streets surrounding it (except for the street adjacent to the Empanadaan) are closed off to motorized traffic every Saturday and Sunday to allow people to walk the streets freely. It is a popular skateboarding venue among the locals.

used to be the home of assassinated Congressman Floro Crisologo and wife Carmeling, former governor of Ilocos Sur. It contains Crisologo memorabilia.