Spending New Year in Beautiful Taal Batangas: A Quick Visit in The Minor Basilica and Parish of Saint Martin of Tours

This is one of the plans my little brother made - to take us in Taal to experience their Pailaw and, of course, to see the old and beautiful Taal Basilica, or The Minor Basilica and Parish of Saint Martin of Tours. But I'll focus on the Taal Basilica on this post, so look forward to it.

I am not really familiar with the church, so I had to visit Mr. Google to know more about this Taal Church. And according to it, it is considered the largest church building here in the Philippines and in Asia. Just wow, I am regretting now that I didn't check its inside during our visit.

Well, there's a reason why we could not do it, it's because we are wearing our comfortable clothes, and I think it's really inappropriate to get inside with just our plain t-shirt and shorts. Unfortunately, when I visited Batangas, I didn't bring any pants because pants are too heavy, so I just brought my pang malakasan na mga cargo shorts. aigooo, I should've brought even one pair of pants so that we could get inside the church. And during our visit here, there's an ongoing mass, so there's a bunch of people. I mean, it's New Year, so it's to be expected.

We started our travel at 4 pm, but waiting for a jeep kinda took a lot of time. It's because it is New Year, and every jeep was full. Aside from that, we can't find a jeep that is en route in Robinson Mall that's our next stop. Luckily, after 10 minutes, we're finally able to find an almost empty jeep.

After minutes of travel, we arrived near Robinson Mall, and we had to wait a few more minutes because there are very few Jeeps that are bound for Lemery Batangas. And after 16 minutes, it finally arrived.

And from then on, it is another long hour of travel. It is really uncomfortable and kinda scary because the road is really bumpy. It scares me because of my nose. I can't help but get anxious, but I convinced myself not to think negatively and just look forward to the beauty that is waiting for us in Taal Batangas. So after one hour and four minutes, we finally arrived.

It's getting dark, but according to my brother, it is more fun at night because we can also enjoy the Pailaw that was set up near the Taal Basilica.

Look at all the people going inside. I'm sure they have the same reason as us why they visit there. To see the Pailaw after visiting the church. As for us, I really want to see the Taal Basilica even from outside. I'll just check the inside of it if I ever plan another vacation in Batangas, next year, or maybe next, next, next, next year. Lol

And finally, there it is. The stairs toward the Taal Church. It is so beautiful even though we can all tell that it is already old. Maybe because the way it was structured, the building design is just magnificent.

Here's a closer look, it looks really ancient. Even the black pigment on the building adds beauty to the building. It's amazing that this church exists until now, it was founded in the year 1572, and it was already declared as a national shrine.*

This is what it looks like when all the lights are on. It glows, and it looks just like gold, it shines brightly, and its beauty shows. Ahhh, I am regretting I didn't see what it looks like inside, huhu. And this is how it is in front, near the stairs. With all the lights downstairs, as if they are some light that guides every visitor.

This visit is not complete without groupies, so here it is. I don't have a solo shot, though I awkwardly pose always, so I avoid getting myself a solo photograph. I preferred a close shot like this because at least I can hide my big face ( ꈍᴗꈍ).

It's cool to see that a lot of people are visiting this place. I'm curious, though, how it is during regular days. Anyone here who already visited Taal Basilica?

Lead Image Edited in Canva.