Casa Bizantina

Last updated
Don Lorenzo del Rosario House
View ofthe Casa Bizantina from the Plaza of Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar in Bagac, Bataan.jpg
View of the Don Lorenzo del Rosario House, or Casa Bizantina from the plaza of Las Casas Filipinas de Açúzar in Bagac, Bataan
Philippines location map (square).svg
Red pog.svg
Alternative namesCasa Bizantina
General information
TypeSingle-detached
Architectural style Bahay na bato
Town or city Bagac, Bataan
Country Philippines
Coordinates 14°35′57″N120°23′15″E / 14.599061°N 120.387528°E / 14.599061; 120.387528
Construction started1890
Renovated2009
Technical details
MaterialStones and Wood
Floor countThree
Design and construction
Architect(s)Joan Josep Jose Hervas y Arizmendi

The Don Lorenzo del Rosario House, also known as Casa Bizantina, is a heritage house museum originally located at San Nicolas, Manila. It was transferred and reconstructed in 2009 at Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar, Bagac, Bataan. It was designed by a Catalan architect Joan Josep Jose Hervas y Arizmendi, in 1890. It is the only existing building designed by the Architect Arizmendi in the Philippines. In addition to that, it was cited by Tribune magazine in 1939 despite its neglected state.

Contents

History

Spanish Army Captain Esteban de Peñarubia modernized the Binondo area, especially along Calles Fundicion, Ylang Ylang, Aceiteros (now M.V. de los Santos) and Jaboneros, after a major fire incident in 1863. It encouraged several businesses such as metal casting (particularly of bells), oil extraction (perfume essences and cooking oil) and soap making. The ground level of the houses built serve as commercial spaces while the upper floors serve as residential spaces. One of which was the Don Lorenzo del Rosario House, owned by Don Lorenzo del Rosario, a signer of the Malolos Constitution. In 1868, Peñarubia was appointed military governor of Abra. [1]

Joan Josep Jose Hervas y Arizmendi

Joan Josep Jose Hervas y Arizmendi (1851-1912) was a Spanish architect, born in Barcelona, Spain. He got his degree in 1879 and became the municipal architect, or arquitecto municipal, of Sitges and Tortosa in Spain and in Manila, Philippines from 1892 to 1898. One of his works were private residences such as Casa Perez Samanillo (Circulo Ecuestre at present) in 1910, for which he was awarded the 1911 Barcelona City Council Prize. Casa Perez Samanillo was owned by the Perez-Samanillos, former Manila residents. They owned the Perez Samanillo building at Escolta, Manila. His other works include Hotel de Oriente and La Insular Fabrica de Tabacos y Cigarillos. [2]

Architectural features

Casa Bizantina is a Bahay na bato. Don Lorenzo del Rosario House is a three-storey mixed-used structure used as commercial and residential space. It has been called Casa Bizantina because of its Byzantine ornamentation such as a half-moon opening above the large entrance with grill works, arches above the windows of the third floor, engaged columns, and appliqued carvings. However, the house reflects more of the Neo-Mudejar or Spanish-Moorish architectural style. A balcony, or mirador, crowned the roof above the interior's stairs with turned balusters. The stairs leads up to the second and third floors and provides access to both wings of the house. [1]

The house was built with a chamfered corner, in compliance with the municipal building regulations before. The streets at the commercial concentrations at Binondo and San Nicolas districts in Manila were narrow; thus, corner buildings were mandated to be built with a chamfer or chaflan in 1869. This regulation led to the creation of eight-sided open spaces, or plazoletas, at every street corner. [1]

Present condition

The house was occupied by a succession of tenants during the 20th century. It was the first home of the University of Manila in 1914. The nearby community decayed after World War II and the land reclamation for the North Harbor. The old houses became tenements and were torn down to make way for commercial buildings. Casa Bizantina was in miserable condition by 2000. After eight years, the house was declared structurally unsound. Despite its condition, more than 20 families still occupy the house. In 2009, the Don Lorenzo del Rosario House was sold, dismantled, and brought to Bagac, Bataan. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Casa Milà</span> Building in Barcelona, Spain

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bataan</span> Province in Central Luzon, Philippines

Bataan, officially the Province of Bataan, is a province in the Central Luzon region of the Philippines. Its capital is the city of Balanga while Mariveles is the largest town in the province. Occupying the entire Bataan Peninsula on Luzon, Bataan is bordered by the provinces of Zambales and Pampanga to the north. The peninsula faces the South China Sea to the west and Subic Bay to the north-west, and encloses Manila Bay to the east.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Balanga, Bataan</span> Capital of Bataan, Philippines

Balanga, officially the City of Balanga, is a 4th class component city and capital of the province of Bataan, Philippines. It is south of San Fernando, Pampanga and northwest of Manila. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 104,173 people. Balanga joined the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities in 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Binondo</span> District of Manila, Metro Manila, Philippines

Binondo is a district in Manila and is referred to as the city's Chinatown. Its influence extends beyond to the places of Quiapo, Santa Cruz, San Nicolas and Tondo. It is the oldest Chinatown in the world, established in 1594 by the Spaniards as a settlement near Intramuros but across the Pasig River for Catholic Chinese, it was positioned so that colonial rulers could keep a close eye on their migrant subjects. It was already a hub of Chinese commerce even before the Spanish colonial period. Binondo is the center of commerce and trade of Manila, where all types of business run by Filipino-Chinese thrive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bagac</span> Municipality in Bataan, Philippines

Bagac, officially the Municipality of Bagac, is a 3rd class municipality in the province of Bataan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 31,365 people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Josep Maria Jujol</span> Spanish architect (1879–1949)

José María Jujol Gibert was a Catalan Spanish architect. Jujol's wide field of activity ranged from furniture designs and painting, to architecture. He worked with Antoni Gaudí on many of his most famous works. Among Jujol's projects are Casa Batlló, Casa Milà, Park Güell, and Our Lady of Montserrat, and among his design styles are Modernisme and Art Nouveau.

Las Casas commonly referred to as Bartolomé de las Casas (1484–1566), Spanish historian, social reformer and Dominican friar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Nicolas, Manila</span> District of Manila, Metro Manila, Philippines

San Nicolas is one of the sixteen districts in the city of Manila in the Philippines. It is located at the west central part of the city, on the northern bank of the Pasig River bounded by the districts of Binondo to the east by Estero de Binondo, and Tondo to the north and west, and by the Pasig River to the south. Considered as a heritage district of Manila, this community has kept its 19th-century ancestral houses, which symbolizes the wealthy lives of the people who used to live there, similar to the ancestral houses of Silay and Vigan.

Anacleto del Rosario y Sales was a leading chemist in the Philippines during the Spanish era in Philippine history. Regarded as the "Father of Philippine Science and Laboratory", del Rosario invented the formula for producing a pure kind of alcohol from tuba in a nipa palm. This formula won for del Rosario the first prize during the World Fair in Paris, France in 1889. Del Rosario extracted castor oil from the palma christi, literally the "palm of Christ", a native plant in the Philippines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar</span> Seaside heritage resort in Bataan, Philippines

Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar is a beach resort, hotel, convention center and heritage destination in Bagac, Bataan, Philippines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plaza San Lorenzo Ruiz</span>

Plaza San Lorenzo Ruiz or Plaza Lorenzo Ruiz is a major public square in Binondo, Manila, bounded by Quintin Paredes Street to the east and Juan Luna Street to the west, parallel to the Estero de Binondo. It is the plaza that fronts the Minor Basilica of San Lorenzo Ruiz, one of the main churches of the City of Manila, and is considered the center of Binondo as a whole.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pio Chapel</span> Church in Pampanga, Philippines

The San Vicente Ferrer chapel, popularly referred to as the Pio chapel is a Roman Catholic chapel located at Barangay Pio, in Porac, Pampanga. Built in 1861, the chapel is believed to be the first circular chapel of its kind in the Philippines. In 2019, a magnitude 6.3 earthquake caused the two pilasters on the chapel's facade to collapse.

<i>Bonifacio: Ang Unang Pangulo</i> 2014 Filipino film

Bonifacio: Ang Unang Pangulo is a 2014 Philippine historical action drama film centering on the life of Katipunan revolutionary Andres Bonifacio. It was an official entry to the 40th Metro Manila Film Festival.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Casa Hidalgo</span> Single-detached in Bataan, Philippines

The Rafael Enriquez House, also known as Casa Hidalgo, is a heritage house originally located at Quiapo, Manila, owned by Rafael Enriquez, a Spanish peninsular and painter (1850–1937). The house was built in 1867 – one of the first projects of Architect Felix Roxas y Arroyo. Some of his notable works were Paterno House and Zamora House in Quiapo, Manila and the 1867 Santo Domingo Church in Intramuros, Manila. However, a carving on king post, stating "1807", indicates that the house was built before Rafael Enriquez occupied the house. This was discovered in 2006 – wherein the house was dismantled and relocated at Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar, Bagac, Bataan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Casa Jaen I</span> Single-detached in Bataan, Philippines

The Don Hilarion Esquivel House, also known as Casa Jaen I, is a heritage house museum originally located at Jaen, Nueva Ecija built during the 1900s. Being the second house of the Esquivel family at Jaen, Nueva Ecija, it served as the venue for the homecoming of his son, Emmanuel Frias Esquivel, who studied at the United States. Their first house, which is also located at the same municipality, was built in 1890. At present, the house was re-located at Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar, Bagac, Bataan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hidalgo Street</span>

Hidalgo Street is a street located in Quiapo in the old downtown of Manila, Philippines. It runs east–west through the center of the district linking two of the district's most popular landmarks, Quiapo Church and San Sebastian Church. It is divided by Quezon Boulevard into two sections: the western section is a pedestrian zone that forms the southern boundary of Plaza Miranda running parallel to Carriedo Street, while the eastern section is a two-lane street which leads to the San Sebastian Church. Formerly known during the Spanish colonial times in sections as Calle [de] San Sebastian and Calle Crespo, respectively, it was renamed after the Filipino painter Félix Resurrección Hidalgo. It was once considered “the most beautiful street in Manila.”

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plaza Cervantes</span>

Plaza de Cervantes is a public square in Binondo, Manila, bounded by Quintin Paredes Street to the east and Juan Luna Street to the west, near the Estero de Binondo. Dedicated to Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes, it is one of three main plazas in Binondo, located between Plaza Moraga to the south and Plaza San Lorenzo Ruiz to the north.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alberto Mansion</span>

The Alberto Mansion is a historic house in Biñan, Laguna, Philippines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jose Acuzar</span>

Jose "Jerry" Rizalino Larion Acuzar is a Filipino business executive who is the founder of New San Jose Builders. He also serves as the current Secretary of the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development since July 29, 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New San Jose Builders</span> Philippine real estate company

New San Jose Builders, Inc. (NSJBI) is a Philippine real estate company based in Quezon City.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Laya, Jaime C.; Turalba, Maria Cristina V.; Tinio, Martin I. Jr. (2013). Philippine Heritage Homes: A Guidebook. Mandaluyong: Anvil Publishing. ISBN   978-971-27-2870-9.
  2. Glossary of Artists: Modernism Vol.2. Barcelona: Ed. Cultural Olympiad and Lundwerg. 1990.