MANILA, Philippines — An online study shows that the San Agustin Church in Intramuros, Manila is the most beautiful building in the Philippines.
Home improvement website Angi, formerly Angie's List, researched reviews on travel site TripAdvisor from 132 countries for mentions of the word “beautiful,” identifying the buildings that were mentioned.
Data collected between December 2021 and January 2022 was also narrowed into categories such as architectural buildings, churches and cathedrals, government buildings, religious sites, historic sites, and points of interest.
The study found that the church, also known as the Immaculate Conception Parish or Archdiocesan Shrine of Our Lady of Consolation and Cincture, is the Philippines' most beautiful building.
Recognized as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1993, the church was initially hit by two fires before its completion in 1607, still making it the oldest stone church in the country.
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The church was sacked in the 18th century during the Battle of Manila, withstood major earthquakes over decades (though quakes in July 1880 left a large crack in the east bell tower), and survived World War II during the Japanese Occupation.
Global beautiful buildings
The most beautiful building in the world, according to Angi's study, is the Basilica de la Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain which saw over 16,000 mentions of the word “beautiful” in TripAdvisor reviews.
Second-placed Cathedrale Notre-Dame in Paris, France, which suffered a major fire in April 2019, was not far behind with nearly 13,000 mentions.
The Biltmore Estate in the United States, the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and New York City's Grand Central Terminal complete the Top 5.
Some famous landmarks that figure in the Top 20 include the Blue Mosque (No. 7), the Taj Mahal (No. 8), Duomo di Milano (No. 15), the Hagia Sophia Mosque (No. 18), and the Louvre Museum (No. 19); France has the most number of beautiful buildings at four, which also include Sainte-Chapelle (No.16) and Basilique du Sacre-Couer de Montmartre (No.9) apart from the Louvre and Cathedrale Notre-Dame.
Fourteen of the 20 buildings mentioned were places of worship while the rest were civic or historical buildings with varied architecture styles; only the Louvre and Iceland's Hallgrímskirkja (No. 14) were considered modern works, with the latter having gothic references.
Outside the Top 20 were other famous landmarks like St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, the Sydney Opera House in Australia, the Petronas Twin Towers in Malaysia, York Minster in England, and St. Mark's Church in Croatia.
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