Then and Now – Calle Escolta as Viewed from the Santa Cruz Church

Calle Escolta as viewed from Santa Cruz Church, circa 1928-1929 - Photo courtesy of the University of Wisconsin Digital Collections (http://uwdc.library.wisc.edu/) and the United States National Archives (http://www.archives.gov/)

Escolta as viewed from the Santa Cruz Church bell tower (Photo taken on September 27, 2008)

Note on the use of the old photograph:

From the University of Wisconsin Digital Collections website:

“The University of Wisconsin Libraries generally do not own the copyrights to materials in their print and electronic collections. Consistent with their public university mission, the Libraries encourage the use of content in these collections for study, research, and teaching.

“Most works published after 1923 are protected by U. S. and international copyright laws. The publications of the United States government are not copyrightable and may be freely copied and/or re-published.”

From the United States National Archives website:

“The vast majority of the digital images in the Archival Research Catalog (ARC) are in the public domain. Therefore, no written permission is required to use them. We would appreciate your crediting the National Archives and Records Administration as the original source. For the few images that remain copyrighted, please read the instructions noted in the “Access Restrictions” field of each ARC record.”

Then and Now – View of the Santa Cruz Church from Calle Escolta

View of Santa Cruz Church from Calle Escolta in 1926 - Photo courtesy of the University of Michigan Library (http://www.lib.umich.edu/)

View of Santa Cruz Church from Escolta (Photo taken on September 27, 2008)

Note on the use of the old photograph:

From the University of Michigan Library website:

“Users are free to cite and link to digital content without asking for permission.

“Users are free to download, copy, and distribute works in the public domain without asking for permission. To determine whether a work is in the public domain, see the section on the public domain of the Copyright & Fair Use site of Stanford University Libraries.”

Then and Now – Santa Cruz Church

Santa Cruz Church in 1900 - Photo courtesy of the University of Michigan Library (http://www.lib.umich.edu/)

Santa Cruz Church in 2008 (Photo taken on September 27, 2008)

The first church to have ever been built on the site of the present-day Santa Cruz church is said to have been built in 1608, after the “territory” (which at the time was comprised of marshlands, orchards, rice fields, and patches of greeneries) was awarded to the Jesuits by a Spanish expedition after claiming it in 1581. The church was built to primarily serve the ever-growing number of Chinese Christian converts living in the area.

Some 35 years after the church was built, in 1643, the Jesuits enshrined in it the image of the Nuestra Señora del Pilar.

Sadly, that church was destroyed during World War II.

However, before the church was rebuilt, its ruins once hosted a concert (on May 9, 1945) held by the Manila Symphony Orchestra under the conduction of Vienna-born Dr. Herbert Zipper.

The present-day Santa Cruz Church was constructed in 1957.

Before I end this, I would like to share to you this excerpt from the book “Interesting Manila” by George Amos Miller (1906):

“The Santa Cruz Church contains an organ that was the pride of Manila in its day. The console is detached from the organ and reversed, facing the altar, and furnishing the only example of its kind in the city. But this console is a curio in its way. The keys are of all heights and sizes, and are brown or black with age. Many of the ‘ivories’ are missing, and the ‘dip’ or distance the key may be pushed down varies from nothing up to an inch or so. The pedals are something for an organist to never forget. They are simply pegs pushed up through the floor and capable of being played only in the most elemental fashion. For that matter, the pedal key board of the organ in the cathedral is of the same sort, which makes on smile at the statement that this is the most modern organ in the city.”

Note on the use of the old photograph:

From the University of Michigan Library website:

“Users are free to cite and link to digital content without asking for permission.

“Users are free to download, copy, and distribute works in the public domain without asking for permission. To determine whether a work is in the public domain, see the section on the public domain of the Copyright & Fair Use site of Stanford University Libraries.”