ChurchSketch

93-2831 – St. Mary Magdalene Church, Kawit

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My next sketch on the Kawit Heritage Tour with #UskManila was of the bell tower at the Diocesan Shrine and Parish of St. Mary Magdalene. This Roman Catholic church is one of the oldest in the Philippines, with construction started in 1737. Our guide told us that when the Spanish arrived in the area in 1624, Kawit became a red-light district and to counter this reputation, the Archbishop of Manila dedicated the church to Saint Mary Magdalene (supposedly a prostitute turned repentant sinner – although these days the idea of her being a prostitute is considered untrue and just served to disempower women).

Sat-31-Aug-2024

92-2817-9 – Girona

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Barcelona Sants to Girona

Back to Spain with this post – on our second day we went to Girona (a medieval city founded by the Romans over 2,000 years ago and a fantastic place to visit). My first sketch was done on the train – but it didn’t turn out too well! When we arrived, we sat in Independence Square for coffee. I couldn’t find out anything about the fountain (with a boy sitting on a turtle) that I sketched – it’s called “The Turtle Boy” (“El Nen de la Tortuga”) – but the statue in the middle of the square is by Antoni Parera. The second sketch was done in front of Basilica de Sant Feliu (church of St. Felix) where we sat to eat our lunch. The baroque façade was built in the 13th-18th centuries.

Child of the turtle
Basilica de Santa Feliu

Thu-15-Aug-2024

91-2787 – St. Lawrence’s Church

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On the morning of my daughter’s birthday we went for a nice sunny walk over the road from where we stayed in Suffolk, to the nearby church in Little Waldingfield. That was after umpteen phone calls to the car hire company trying to get a replacement car because a warning light appeared on the dashboard. I was not impressed with Europcar. We couldn’t get in to the church (a pity as according to one website it has some interesting features), but sat in the churchyard and ate our sandwiches. Our afternoon (after visiting my mum) was spent at my sisters house stuffing ourselves with a veggie barbecue, strawberry merengue and cake!

Tue-23-Jul-2024

90-2770 – Minor basilica and archdiocesan shrine

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This sketch was done at the local Saint Anne Parish church, where we cycled to last Sunday morning. The first church on this site was built in 1609 but after several earthquakes the present one was started in 1883. I sketched here way back on 12 May 2016, when I first began sketching regularly (see post No.40 on my blog). That time I managed to get the whole tower in…my current small format sketchbook tends to make me focus on details…that’s my excuse anyway.

Sun-7-Jul-2024

83-2607 – Holy Rosary Parish Church

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I did so many sketches on our trip to Angeles City with #UskManila…so here is another one. After sketching at #PamintuanMansion we visited the local church. This church was first built in 1877, but was damaged in the 2019 Luzon earthquake and is currently undergoing restoration. I did this sketch very quickly…probably too quickly as I made lots of mistakes!

Sat-24-Feb-2024