Tag: visita iglesia

Holy Week Rides & Road Trips near Manila for Bikers

The Holy Week exodus has started, with thousands of Filipinos heading from Manila to their home provinces and popular vacation destinations around the country this Lenten Break. With the streets in the metro practically empty, this is the perfect excuse for cyclists and riders to gear up and ride to churches and pilgrimage sites. 

Here are a few suggestions for religious-themed rides and notable pilgrimage destinations relatively near the metro that you can ride to.

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Visita Iglesia: Beautiful Churches around the Philippines

It’s Holy Week once again, and no doubt many Filipinos will be visiting seven (or 14) churches to pray the Stations of the Cross and reflect. Visita Iglesia or church visits are customarily done during Maundy Thursday or Good Friday, though it’s commonly practiced during any day of the Holy Week.

Over the years, I’ve visited a lot of churches, chapels, and sites of religious significance in different provinces around the Philippines. Though I’m not really an expert on heritage sites, I thought it would be timely to come up with a list of some of the most beautiful and unique churches I’ve been to around the country.

For this list, I included a selection of 14 churches (and a couple of church ruins) from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao that I personally found really beautiful along with some trivia about what makes them worth visiting any time of the year.

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Regina Rica in Tanay, Rizal

While most people are probably heading out to their home provinces or hitting the beaches this Holy Week, riders are probably looking for their next destination. With the streets in Manila virtually devoid of traffic during the Lenten Season, this is just the perfect excuse to gear up and head to religious destinations. Riding to visit churches and sites of religious significance can be a meaningful way to celebrate the Holy Week.

regina rica tanay rizal motorcycling travelup

Last year, I found myself motorcycling a total of 232 kilometers South of Manila for a Holy Week themed ride, passing through the churches of Pakil and Paete and the Tatlong Krus a pilgrimage site in Paete, where three crosses sit atop a hill.

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Visita Iglesia via Motorcycle

Holy week in Manila is great. There’s no traffic on the roads, making it an ideal time for road trips. This year, we decided to do a “Visita Iglesia” via motorcycle to several churches, targeting the Rizal/Laguna area.

The tradition of visiting seven churches on Holy Thursday is said to have originated in Rome when early pilgrims visited seven pilgrim churches as penance. The ride itself in the morning was pretty good, but towards noon, the scorching heat going back (especially through Cogeo and Marikina) did feel like penance. Continue reading “Visita Iglesia via Motorcycle”