The Sinking Bell Tower of Laoag

This centuries old 45m bell tower is the first thing you'll see when you arrive at Laoag’s town proper. This St. William Cathedral's bell tower is reputed to be the most solid, massive and tallest tower in the Philippines. The tower is so heavy and has sandy foundation thus the sinking.

Old people said that a person on a horseback once could enter the tower. Now, one must bend over just to get inside the tower. The tower has 6 bells of different sizes.

When you visit a lot of churches in Ilocos Sur & Ilocos Norte, you'll find out that almost all of them are physically separated from the bell tower. One of the locals said, that's because the bell tower is used as the watchtower during the war. The churches were used as evacuation centers and to protect the kids & the women, men climbed to the bell tower to look out for the enemy. Though this tower is the farthest I've seen from the church.

You won't miss this tower when you get to Laoag, as even though it sunk, you can still see the tower from afar. We weren't able to go near or go inside, if it's allowed, because our priority at that time is to attend a mass. So I just satisfied myself with taking pictures from the car. This one of the reasons I want to go back to Ilocos Norte, to get a good look and picture of this tower.