Belfry of the Church of Our Lady of the Gate in Daraga
The main church in Daraga city is the Our Lady of the Gate Church. It is on top of a small hill in the city and it commands great views of the Mayon Volcano. It is a shame though since the famous volcano is obscured in clouds. I understand the best time to see the volcano would be early morning or late afternoon, if you are lucky. The volcano looms large here and it is surprising that it wasn’t destroyed by past eruptions. The church of Daraga became the main church here in the area because of the destruction of Cagsawa which is somewhat nearby.
Outside the Walls of the Church of Our Lady of the Gate in Daraga
The style of the Church of Our Lady of the Gate is said to be Baroque-Rococo. I wasn’t sure what that means but it seems that it isn’t strictly baroque. It employed local building materials especially volcanic blocks which are obviously plentiful here. The church has a large belfry on the right and probably set up differently from some other churches in the country where the belfry is a separate building. The buttresses are quite large as they tend to be here in the country because of the frequency of earthquakes, though not as large as the other old churches. It is interesting to see that it is still standing after all these years.
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