Spoliarium by Juan Luna
*Image is credited to Rain Tajon via www.bitlanders.com
On Quirino Boulevard in the Heritage City of Vigan, you can find an ancestral house, now a museum open to the public, the Syquia Mansion.
The visit was unplanned, I have another thing in mind, to have some famous cold snack with a friend but suddenly I asked him if we could check out a museum before we head to a place where their "halo-halo" tastes great. Gladly, he willingly obliged
The Syquia Mansion became a Heritage House in pursuant to the board resolution number 1, dated January 18, 2002 of the National Historical Institute of the Republic of the Philippines.
The Syquia Mansion was built in 1830, one of the oldest and largest "bahay na bato"(stone house) in the Heritage City of Vigan. The Mansion was given to Estefania Angco as part of her dowry when she married Gregorio Syquia in 1875. Gregorio Syquia has only one child name Tomas and Tomas has eight children with his wife Concepcion. One of his children is Alicia, the wife of the 6th president of the Philippines, Elpidio Quirino.
The Heritage house is filled with not just with the families antiques and memorabilia of the late President of the Philippines.
*Image is credited to the Syquiamansion.org
*Image is credited to Syquiamansion.org
What to see inside the Mansion?
As I entered the Museum, I noticed this carriage near the door and I learned that the door that I get in was the mansion's "Zaguan" or Entry Hall. The Entry hall is where the carriages or "carruajes" were parked and passengers were being dropped. And its floor is called the Chinese stone or "piedra china".
The grand staircase or "Escalera Principal" will be welcoming you as you go up to the upper floor. The staircase itself will show you the grandeur of the mansion. The staircase is typical to the "bahay na bato" or stone house, with fancy balusters and the steps that follow the "oro"(gold), "plata"(silver) and "mata"(death) superstitious belief.
The Staircase
*Image is credited to Rain Tajon via www.bitlanders.com
The Syquia Mansion is filled with antique furnitures, sculptures and the famous Juan Luna's painting, "Spoliarium", only the replica of it. The mansion evidently showed how rish the family is since Alicia Syquia-Quirino's ancestor was Chinese, whose fortune came from the robust trading in Vigan. Now, the mansion housed the old photos of the family and also the memorabilia of President Elpidio Quirino, for people to see their fortunes that are being displayed.
While I was roaming around, I have come to noticed big sizes of mirrors, that in each room has it. And in the sala, they even have more than one. Visiting the mansion made me see how rich people have before. There were plenty of rooms, that I got wowed every time I get inside to one. Each room has their labels on it that you can get to see to whom the rooms belongs to and here are the rooms.
1. "Cuarto delas Hijas" or Girl's Room. This is the first room that I get inside to. The room was being used by Alicia and Petronila. The room has two doors that connects to the master's bedroom so that their parents can supervised them and the other door connects to the "mayordoma's" room.
The girls' room
*Image is credited to Rain Tajon via www.bitlanders.com
2. "Cuarto dela Mayordoma" or Room of the Governess. From the girls room, I gent into this room. I noticed that this room has a different floor compared to the other rooms and then I read that the room that still has the original elaborate pressed tin ceiling and tile floors. Even with the room of the Governess, you can really see how the family has been living with great fortune.
The Governess' room.
*Image is credited to Rain Tajon via www.bitlanders.com
3. "Cuarto Principal" or the Masters' Bedroom. The room were used to be with Alicia's grandparents,Don Gregorio and Donya Estefania, but when Alicia married the late President Elpidio Quirino, the room became theirs.
Masters' Bedroom
*Image is credited to Rain Tajon via www.bitlanders.com
4. "Cuarto delos Bebes" or the Nursery. The room is made for the babies and young children of the family. It has four-poster beds and when the babies grow up and become adolescents, they are transferred to bigger rooms.
*Image is credited to Rain Tajon via www.bitlanders.com
5. "Cuarto delos Hijos" or the Boys' bedroom. This is the room that is near the dining hall. The room were used Tomas' sons, Hector, Cesar and Juan.
What are the parts of the Mansion?
The mansion is indeed a mansion. It is big that touring around can make you lost yourself within those bunch of rooms if you keep walking and taking pictures. Some of the other parts are.
1. Antesala or the informal living room. This is the place where most of the visitors are gathered and it is where you can see Juan Luna's "Spoliarium". The furnitures on this part are all wooden with European influences.
2. Sala or the Formal Living Room. This is the place where Don Gregorio welcomed important guests and hosted grand parties, "tertulias" and socia; gatherings. Life-seized painting of Don Gregorio and Donya Estefania are being displayed here and those big mirros that intrigued me are being shown too, aside from the bronze statues and Eurpean style furnitures.
The Formal Living room
*Image is credited to Rain Tajon via www.bitlanders.com
3. "Oratorio" or Prayer Room. This is a private chapel of the family. So private that you can not get inside, you just have to look inside through those trasnparent glass windows of the room. The family has practiced during the Spanish period to gather together and pray the Angelus and the Holy Rosary every night.
4. "Comedor" or the Dining Hall. Knowing the the house is owned by rich family, I can nt help not to be wowed again with their dining hall. In the dining hall, you can see the cabinet filled with silverwares.
The Dining Hall
*Image is credited to Rain Tajon via www.bitlanders.com
5. Picture Gallery. This is the part where pictures of the family members are being displayed.
6. "El Pozo" or Well. This is found downstairs. The well has been the main source of water that is being used for drinking, cooking, lceaning and washing. And aslo to bathe the horses of Don Gregorio.
7. "Cuadra Y Caballera" or Stables and Tack Room. Don Gregorio was said to have owned only white horses which were kept and cared in this part of the house.
8. Camarin or the Storehouse. This part of the mansion was used to store farm produce from many farmer tenants of Don Gregorio and now, the place is where you can see the memorabili of President Elpidio Quirino.
What else to see?
The Mansion has this Azotea upstairs where the servants used to have the place as their work area. The museum has also a souvenir shop where you will be able to buy any souvenir that are from the Province of Ilocos Sur, from the Abel Iloco products to the t-shirts. They also has an art gallery where painting by local artists are being displayed.
Museum Hours.
The Syquia Mansion is open from 9:00-5:00 except Tuesdays and they are open on any legal holidays.
Entrance fee.
I paid Php100.00 for me to be able to room around the mansion and I didn't expect that amount though for I was told that it is much lesser than the amount I paid.
