Rust corroding all-steel San Sebastian Church

US AMBASSADOR Philip Goldberg and architect Tina Paterno with Recollect friars

Corrosion due to 300 water leaks is eating up the San Sebastian Church in Manila, the only all-steel church in the Philippines and one of only a very few in the world.

A P4.3 million scientific study in support of the restoration and conservation of the church located in Quiapo, Manila, has concluded that the gothic structure is suffering from heavy corrosion as a result of extensive and severe water infiltration, said architect Tina Paterno, executive director of the San Sebastian Basilica Conservation and Development Foundation.

Although destroyed by the earthquake of 1880, the church under the care of the Augustinian Recollects was declared a minor basilica in 1890 by Pope Leo XIII. This was the year when the prefabricated steel sections were shipped from Europe to Manila so that the Recollects were able to erect the all-steel gothic structure, said to be the only all-steel structure in Asia. The new church was consecrated the following year.

Designed by the Spanish architect Genaro Palacios, who was supposedly inspired by the gothic cathedral of Burgos, Spain, the conceptualizing of the steel structure reportedly also had the participation of Gustav Eiffel, builder of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

Like a shipwreck

In a press conference held at the church itself, Paterno placed the cost to check the corrosion, restore the structure, and conserve its liturgical art and other appurtenances at upwards of P100 million.

A US$97,000 grant by the US Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP) funded the technical study.

As the only all-steel building in the Philippines, and one of just a handful of all-steel churches in the world, the San Sebastian Basilica in Manila, is an engineering marvel, said US Ambassador Philip S. Goldberg.

I am proud that the United States Embassy was able to support the first phase of the restoration of this amazing structure, he added.

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Rust corroding all-steel San Sebastian Church