Sinking Bell Tower of Laoag
Laoag City, Ilocos Norte

This centuries old 45-meter tall bell tower built by the Augustinian Friars in 1612 is one of the tallest and most massive in the country.

The construction is typical of the earthquake baroque structures found in Ilocos. Built of old brick and stoned faced with limes stucco plaster, the tower rises in four tiers. The base with its massive rounded corners supports the graduated upper tiers noted for its graceful curved buttresses and corner treatments, giving it its early baroque appearance, The tower is crowned by a double dome
topped with a cross.

Access to the top is thru a vaulted tunnel leading to a windiong wooden stairway. At the top are 6 bells of diferent sizes. A big bell on the third tier when rung can be heard in nearby towns.

Tales by old people mention that a person on horseback once could enter its vaulted entrance without stooping. Now a person of ordinary height has to stoop to enter the tower door, because the tower has sunk considerably and evenly, thus its reputaion as “The Sinking Bell Tower of Laoag”.

Bantay Abot Cave
Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte

Bantay Abot Cave means “a mountain with a hole.” A hole was found at the middle of the mountain where the waves were free to flash into its walls just like an open shore until it was wrecked by an earthquake during the 80’s. It is also called “the underground sea” for on top of the cave is a lustrous vegetative cover. Inside the cave is a church that once you are inside, you do not only hear the echoing sound of the waves, the chirping of the birds but you can also feel the cool breeze of the air. It is a favorite hangout of swallows that swarm to their roost in the late afternoon. It is a very unique creation partly surrounded by the clear blue sea. Its shore has white sand mixed with fragments of shells and rocks that can be made as a décor. Parts of the shore are forms of rocks where you can sit and relax and enjoy a lucid view of the wide sea and verdant mountains.
Bantay Abot Cave is located along the seacoast of Sitio Gaoa, Balaoi, Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte.