It is widely known that Philippines is a predominantly Catholic nation, where majority adheres to Roman Catholicism due to the colonization of Spaniards for over 300 years. No wonder, almost every corner of our archipelago has at least a small chapel or a heritage church found in town centers from Luzon to Mindanao.
Since I started my #project81 by visiting historic churches of our country, I dreamt of visiting the national cultural treasure churches as well as major cathedrals and some shrines. In this page, I will attempt to compile my visita iglesia itineraries per archdiocese and their suffragan dioceses. They are arranged geographically just like the regions of the Philippines, so adjacent provinces can be visited and completing visita iglesia in one metroplitan area can be possible. I’m fascinated also with the Coat of Arms of each diocese as the symbolisms reflect the culture and origins of places they represent.
Most dioceses are grouped into ecclesiastical provinces, each of which comprises a Metropolitan archdiocese and several suffragan dioceses and is headed by the archbishop, as the metropolitan bishop of the province.
A metropolis religious jurisdiction, or a metropolitan archdiocese, is an episcopal see whose bishop is the metropolitan bishop of an ecclesiastical province. Metropolises, historically, have been important cities in their provinces.
Dioceses ruled by an archbishop are commonly referred to as archdioceses; most are metropolitan sees, being placed at the head of an ecclesiastical province. A few are suffragans of a metropolitan see or are directly subject to the Holy See.
Apostolic vicariates and the Military Ordinariate, which are directly subject to the Holy See and are not part of any ecclesiastical province, are included for convenience purposes.
Below are the 16 METROPOLITAN ARCHDIOCESES where major dioceses are clustered into ecclesiastical provinces geographically, similar to administrative regions of the Philippines. I have visited all metropolitan cathedrals! (n_n)
Click on the links below each pic for related articles on visita iglesia per province.
Albay: Visita Iglesia around Mayon Volcano
Aklan: Visita Iglesia at Philippines’ Oldest Province
SIQUIJOR: The Circumferential Coastal Island Tour
Iloilo City: From Old Towns to New Districts
Visita Iglesia in Negros Occidental
Visita Iglesia in Pangasinan Part 2
Manila: Visita Iglesia at the Old Downtown
Visita Iglesia in Ilocos Provinces
Visita Iglesia in Leyte Island and Samar
Pisamban: Church Visit in Pampanga
Visita Iglesia in Nueva Vizcaya
Zamboanga City: La Ciudad Latina de Asia
Ben Goes Where 
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