standing tall and proud beside cebu metropolitan cathedral church is a 19th century building, untouched from the rage of the second world war that blew other roman catholic churches into smithereens. this building used to be a rectory. now, it serves as a repository of the archdiocese of cebu’s sacred treasures.

and by “treasures,” i mean religious items made of ivory, bronze, gold, porcelain, or silver. on the first floor is a chapel which houses “the carmen collection,” which, according to wikipedia, belong to the parish of carmen, cebu.

my favorite among the collection would have to be the sculpted bust of the Virgin Mother (assuming i am correct). What i like most about it is the eye detail wherein you can really see and feel her sadness. not to mention the ultra-long lashes many girls would kill to have.

the main feature of the collection is this bronze-plated altar. on top of it, as you can see, is a bronze tabernacle, some candle holders, and, uh, other stuff.

i wish i could dish out more interesting facts about the place instead of the blaah-ness i am serving you now but at the time we visited the museum, we didn’t have a tour guide. people came in. looked around. took pictures. left. same thing with us.

which is why you’ll have to excuse ram if out of all the sacred relics found inside the chapel, the only thing that blew him away was an electric fan. the dude probably thought it was an antique too.

but the thing that blew me away? the old capiz windows. because i loooove capiz windows. it’s the first thing that attracts me to old houses. someday when i have my own house, i’ll definitely incorporate some capiz windows in it. kind of like modern-meets-past kind of look. i don’t know yet exactly how i’m gonna do it but i will. that’s what you call positive thinking!

i’m thinking of going back to this ecclesiastical museum one of these days to learn all i can about the place. by then, i’ll gladly fill you in on all the stuff i missed ‘coz trust me, i missed A LOT!