Vigan, officially called the City of Vigan (Ilocano: Siudad ti Vigan; Filipino: Lungsod ng Vigan; Spanish: Ciudad de Vigan), is a city and the capital of Ilocos Sur province in the Philippines. According to the 2024 census, it has a population of 54,498 people.

Vigan is located on the western coast of Luzon, facing the South China Sea. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the few Spanish colonial towns in the Philippines where many old buildings remain unchanged. The city is famous for its stone-paved streets and architecture from the Spanish colonial period, which blends traditional Filipino and Asian styles with Spanish designs. Examples include the bahay na bato houses and the Earthquake Baroque church.

Vigan is known as the birthplace of Elpidio Quirino, the sixth president of the Philippines. He was born near the old Provincial Jail, where his father worked as a guard. He also lived in the Syquia Mansion, a house given to his wife by her family as a wedding gift.

The entire city was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list after being recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is part of the Organization of World Heritage Cities (OWHC).

In May 2015, Vigan was officially named one of the New7Wonders Cities, along with Beirut, Doha, Durban, Havana, Kuala Lumpur, and La Paz.

Etymology

The name "Vigan" comes from a time before Spanish rule. In Spanish records, such as the 1734 Velarde map, it was sometimes written as "Bigan." The name comes from the Ilocano word bigàan (or kabigàan), which means "the place where bíga is found in large amounts." Bíga is the common name for a large type of taro plant called Alocasia macrorrhizos in Ilocano.

This connection is shown in the coat of arms from the Spanish era of the Archdiocese of Nueva Segovia, which had its main church office in Vigan. The coat of arms includes a picture of a flowering Alocasia macrorrhizos plant.

The meaning of "Vigan" is often explained by folk stories. Two popular stories say the name came from a misunderstood question or from a Chinese term bí-gān (美岸), meaning "beautiful shore" (possibly referring to gold dust on the seashore). However, these stories are not supported by historical or academic evidence.

The trading town of Vigan was near a settlement built by Salcedo, which he named Villa Fernandina ("Town of Ferdinand") after Prince Ferdinand, the eldest son of King Philip II of Spain. Villa Fernandina was originally planned to be the capital of Salcedo's encomienda, but it faced health problems early on. Later, it was combined with the larger trading town of Vigan and managed by one official called an alcalde mayor. Over time, the name Villa Fernandina became linked to Vigan. As the city grew and the main church office of the Archdiocese of Nueva Segovia moved to Vigan, the city was renamed Ciudad Fernandina de Vigan ("Ferdinand's City of Vigan" or "Fernandine City of Vigan").

History

Because of silt building up in the Mestizo River, Vigan is no longer an island. It is now connected to the mainland. The city is special in the Philippines because it is one of the few historic cities that have survived since the 16th century.

Before Spanish rule, Vigan was a coastal trading post visited by ships from Austronesian, Arab, Indian, Chinese, and Japanese traders. These traders came to Isla de Vigan through the Mestizo River.

In a book called The Philippine Island (Vol. III, p. 276, Blair and Robertson), two letters from Governor-General Guido de Lavezaris to King Philip II of Spain mention: "It seemed best to send Captain Juan de Salcedo with 70 or 80 soldiers to explore the coast of Los Ilocanos on the shores of the river called Bigan." In 1572, Salcedo led Spanish soldiers north from Manila and reached Vigan on June 13.

After exploring the area, Salcedo founded "Villa Fernandina de Vigan" to honor Prince Ferdinand, the son of King Philip II, who died at age four. From Vigan, Salcedo traveled around Luzón and helped control regions like Camarines, Albay, and Catanduanes. For his work, Salcedo was given the province of Ilocos as his estate and the title of Justicia Mayor de esta Provincia de Ylocos.

In 1574, Salcedo returned to Vigan with soldiers and Augustinian missionaries to spread Christianity in the Ilocos region. He built a Spanish city to manage the area.

Governor General Gómez Pérez Dasmariñas wrote in 1591 that Vigan, called Villa Fernandina, had Spanish settlers, a priest, a governor, and a deputy. The king collected taxes from 800 people. At that time, Vigan had 19 barrios (districts).

Between 1645 and 1660, Vigan was divided into 21 Cabezas de Barrio (local leaders), as recorded in the Libro de Casamiento (Book of Marriage). Chinese migrants lived in a neighborhood called El Pariancillo, los Sangleyes del parian, while Spanish settlers lived in Los Españoles de la Villa. There were about 60 Spanish households in Vigan. The Ilocos region had 631 Spanish-Filipino families and 44,852 native families. Vigan alone had 6,849 native families and 421 Spanish-Filipino families, according to the 1818 Spanish census.

In 1755, Bishop Juan de la Fuente Yepes asked King Fernando VI to move the Diocese of Nueva Segovia to Vigan because Lal-lo in Cagayan was in poor condition. In 1758, King Fernando VI signed a royal decree making Vigan "Ciudad Fernandina de Vigan" and moving the religious center from Lal-lo. A bell in Vigan’s belfry has the words of the decree. The sound of the bell marks the city’s boundaries. In 1849, Leona Florentino, known as the mother of Philippine women’s literature, was born in Vigan.

During the Philippine Revolution, revolutionary forces led by Manuel Tinio, with help from Ilocano rebels, captured Vigan from Spanish forces. During the Philippine–American War, American troops led by Commander McCracken and Lt. Col. James Parker occupied Vigan in November 1899.

At the start of World War II, Vigan was one of the first places in the Philippines invaded by Japan on December 10, 1941. In 1945, U.S. and Philippine Commonwealth forces, with help from Ilocano fighters, defeated Japanese troops and freed Vigan.

In 1999, UNESCO listed Vigan as the best-preserved example of a Spanish colonial town in Asia. Its architecture combines influences from the Philippines, China, and Spain, making it unique.

On December 27, 2000, President Joseph Estrada signed Republic Act No. 8988, which confirmed Vigan’s city status granted by a royal decree from King Ferdinand VI of Spain in 1757. This law became effective in January 2001.

On December 7, 2014, Vigan was named one of the New7Wonders Cities.

On July 27, 2022, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit parts of Luzon, damaging UNESCO sites in Vigan, including the Vigan Cathedral and old buildings, as well as some power lines in Calle Crisologo.

Geography

The City of Vigan is located in the northern part of Luzon, the largest island in the Philippines. It is the capital of Ilocos Sur and has been an important political and trading center since before Spanish colonizers arrived in the Philippines.

Vigan is 403.88 kilometers (250.96 miles) away from Manila, the capital city of the Philippines.

The city covers 2,511 hectares (6,200 acres) of land, mostly flat plains with gentle hills. The areas to the north, east, south, and west of Vigan are the municipalities of Bantay, Santa, Caoayan, and Santa Catalina, respectively. The South China Sea lies to the southwest of the city.

About 60% of Vigan’s land is used for farming. Approximately 32% is residential, nearly 3% is for commercial and industrial purposes, and about 1% is for institutions. The land also includes forest reserves and fishponds.

Vigan is divided into 39 barangays. Thirty of these are rural and cover 2,366 hectares. The other nine are poblacion barangays, covering 144.75 hectares.

Barangays Pagburnayan, Paoa, and Tamag are located on rolling plains. Parts of Barangays Tamag, Bulala, and Salindeg are on the city’s hilly areas.

The most prominent hill in Vigan is Vigan Gap Hill, located 10 kilometers east of the city. In the past, rivers such as Abra, Mestizo, and Govantes separated Vigan from the mainland, making it an island. The Govantes River divides the Vigan plain from north to south.

Large rivers like Abra and Mestizo, along with Bantay, Bantaoay, Nauman, and Santo Tomas, help drain the Vigan plains. These rivers prevent flooding and were used for trade from the 15th to 19th centuries, making Vigan a thriving center. The Mestizo River was especially important for transporting goods and people.

A fault line runs through the Vigan plain and ends in Santa Catalina.

Most of Vigan’s land is flat, but slopes of 20% are found in Barangays V, Tamag, and Paoa. There are no forest reserves in Vigan for raw materials. Bamboo is the only forest product available.

There are five soil types in Vigan:
1. Bantay Loam (36.67 hectares) in the southern part of Raois, suitable for pastureland.
2. Umingan Sandy (1,191.57 hectares), good for upland rice and vegetables.
3. San Manuel Clay Loam (1,244.57 hectares), ideal for bananas, cotton, and vegetables.
4. Bantog Clay (31.65 hectares), the most significant soil type for making pots, jars, and earthenware.
5. Beach Sand (7.28 hectares), found along Vigan’s beaches and used for coconut plantations.

Vigan is divided into 39 barangays, each with puroks and some with sitios.

Sedimentary and metamorphic rocks, such as alluvium, fluviatile, lacustrine, paludal, and beach deposits like coral and beach rock, are found along Vigan’s coasts. A type of clay called Bantog clay is used to make burnay (earthen jars) and bricks for historic Hispanic-style houses in Vigan.

Vigan lies on a Quaternary Age sedimentary plain called the Vigan-Bantay Plain, part of the Ilocos coastal plain. This plain is bordered by rugged Miocene sediments and metamorphic rocks to the east, the municipality of Santa to the south, the South China Sea to the west, and the Ilocos coastal plain to the north.

The central part of the plain has a dissected ridge from the Plio-Pleistocene era, running northeast to southwest. This ridge divides the plain into northern and southern sections.

The northern part is drained by rivers like Bantaoay, Santo Tomas, and Nauman. The Abra River is the main drainage for the southern part. The Abra River flows into the hinterland and has a braided pattern across the plain.

The eastern edge of the Vigan-Bantay Plain has deeply cut valleys shaped by fault lines in the north and east.

Vigan is drained by the Vigan River to the north, the Bantay River to the south, and the Mestizo River, which receives water from the Bantaoay River.

The Vigan-Bantay Plain is mostly flat, with slopes ranging from 0% to 8%. Vigan itself is mostly flat, with hills in Barangays Tamag, Bulala, and Salindeg reaching up to 50 meters in elevation.

The eastern edge of the plain has steep slopes, up to 40%–60%, with elevations exceeding 600 meters in some areas. The Vigan Gap Hill is a key feature here, where the shifting Vigan River cuts through the land.

Vigan has a tropical savanna climate, with two main seasons: a dry season from November to April and a wet season from May to October. The average yearly rainfall is 2,506 millimeters (98.66 inches), with the highest recorded rainfall reaching 6,933 millimeters (272.95 inches).

The average temperature is 26°C. The warmest average is 30.9°C, and the coldest is 21.1°C. Vigan experiences about 7–10 typhoons each year. The average relative humidity is 81%.

Demographics

In the 2024 census, Vigan had a population of 54,498 people. The population density was 2,200 people per square kilometer (5,700/sq mi). The main language spoken in Vigan is Ilocano.

Government

Vigan is located in the first congressional district of Ilocos Sur province. It is led by a mayor, who serves as the main leader, and by a city council, which is the group that makes laws, as required by the Local Government Code. The mayor, vice mayor, and councilors are chosen by the people in elections that happen every three years.

Architecture

When Juan de Salcedo founded Vigan in 1572, he modeled its city layout after Intramuros, the walled city in Manila.

Spanish government planners used a common design found in many old towns from the Spanish colonial period. This design was described in the Ley de las Indias, or Law of the Indies, and became official in the 18th century. According to this law, streets were to follow a grid pattern, with a plaza or central park at the center.

In Vigan, the central park is called Plaza Salcedo. Nearby are government buildings, including the Casa Real (provincial office) and the municipio (municipal hall). Close to these are religious buildings, such as the seminary of the archdiocese, the Arzobispado (Archbishop's Palace), and St. Paul's Cathedral. Next to these religious structures is the Saint Paul College, which was once called the Colegio de Niñas. After the school moved to other towns, the building was given to the Archdiocese of Nueva Segovia. Today, it is used by a retail store chain, with only a commemorative plaque and an old "ROSARY COLLEGE" sign remaining as reminders of its past.

A unique feature of Vigan is another plaza, Plaza Burgos, located near St. Paul's Cathedral. Surrounding Plaza Salcedo are homes of important residents, many of which are now preserved as heritage houses. This urban plan has remained largely unchanged despite wars and natural disasters since Vigan's founding.

Major changes to the city’s original layout happened because of fires. During the American period, the Casa Real was replaced with a provincial capitol building after the original burned down. The archdiocese seminary was also destroyed by fire in 1968 and remained in ruins until the late 1990s, when part of a shopping mall was built on the site.

Residential areas were also affected by fires. Some homes on Crisologo Street were destroyed during the Japanese period, and several houses on Quezon Avenue burned down in 1952. In 1971, homes near Plaza Burgos also caught fire. The burned homes on Crisologo Street were later rebuilt to match the original designs.

Today, other areas of the city are used for activities besides the two plazas, though these remain the main places for recreation and shopping. The southern part of the city includes a commercial area and public market. The current public market is new, as the old one—once called the Imelda Socio-Commercial Complex—was destroyed by fire. A new mall, opened in December 2017, was built on the site of the city’s first public market, which was located in the business district. This area had previously housed businesses and a tricycle-for-hire terminal.

Tourism

Popular places in Vigan City include Calle Crisologo, located in the Mestizo district, which is the city's historic area. Other notable sites are the Syquia Mansion Museum, Plaza Salcedo's Dancing Fountain, Padre Burgos House, Baluarte Zoo, and the National Museum of the Philippines. Nearby is the Bantay Church Bell Tower. A special attraction is the Hotel Luna, which contains a large collection of art, including the painting La Mandolinera by Juan Luna.

Mayor Jose "Bonito" Singson, Jr. presided over the 2024 Grand Parade of Vigan City Fiesta and Vigan Longganisa Festival. The 2024 Fiesta included events such as the Banaoang Marathon, a 12-kilometer race from Banaoang Bridge to Plaza Burgos in Vigan; LGBTQIA+ Day; a symposium at the Vigan Conservation Complex; Community Alay Gupit; Got Talent and fashion shows; the Vigan Food Festival; the Search for Miss Vigan; Dog and Cat Fun Day; the Longganisa Street Dance Showdown; the Pinaka-Livestock contest; Education Day; and Social Services Night. On January 22, 2024, Vigan City released a cookbook titled 101 Ways to Cook Longganisa for the Longganisa Festival held from January 18–27, 2024.

Transportation

Transport within Vigan City is only available through land-based vehicles. Public transportation options include jeepneys, tricycles, vans-for-hire (also called PUVs or public utility vehicles), and calesas (horse-drawn vehicles). Buses, mini-buses, and jeepneys help people travel to and from Vigan. The metro Vigan transport system mainly uses tricycles, which are colored and numbered to show which town they come from.

Vigan City has a well-connected road network and a major highway that links to Manila North Road, the road that connects to Manila and other parts of the country. Major bus companies like Dominion Bus Lines, Viron Transit, Partas, and Aniceto/St. Joseph have terminals in Vigan. GMW Florida Transport has a terminal in Bantay, near Vigan. Other bus companies, such as Maria de Leon and Fariñas, stop in Vigan on their way to Laoag. These companies offer direct or indirect bus services from Vigan to places in Luzon, mainly to Manila, Baguio, and Laoag, and back. Some independent bus drivers have formed transport cooperatives to operate routes between Laoag, Vigan, and Carmen, as well as between Vigan and Abra. These cooperatives share a terminal at the New Vigan Public Market Annex. A taxi service began operating in 2019, just before the COVID-19 pandemic started.

A secondary airport, called Vigan Airport (also known as Mindoro Airport), is located in Barangay Mindoro. It has one asphalt runway that is 900 meters long and 30 meters wide. The airport was not used much in the past because it did not make money and only served private and chartered flights. It is now being improved and is becoming a commercial airport.

Education

The Vigan City Schools Division Office is responsible for managing all Schools District Offices in the city. This office is managed by the Department of Education (DepEd). There are two Schools District Offices (SDOs) in Vigan City: Vigan City District I Schools District Office and Vigan City District II Schools District Office. These offices oversee the operations of all public and private elementary and high schools in the city. Technical and vocational schools are managed by TESDA. Tertiary education institutions are managed by CHED.

• Calvary Baptist Academy
• Ilocos Sur National High School (ISNHS) — the main national high school in the province.
• Immaculate Conception Minor Seminary
• Lyceum de Ylocos (Senior High School)
• Marian Institute of Vigan
• Vigan East National High School
• Vigan West National High School

• Lyceum de Ylocos — this school offers Technical-Vocational courses and is a registered Senior High School. It provides several tracks, including ABM, GAS, HUMSS, and TLE-Technical-Vocational Courses. It is located in the Heritage City of Vigan, at the 3F Vigan Landmark Building, Barangay VIII. The school chose a classical name to highlight its connection to the Heritage City of Vigan, which was awarded the title New World Wonder City in the Philippines. The school supports tourism and hospitality, helps preserve cultural heritage, and works to improve service delivery and business processes. Lyceum de Ylocos is dedicated to helping students by providing a place where they can learn and apply their knowledge practically.

• Data Center Colleges Philippines Vigan Branch — Data Center Philippines (DCPI) first entered Ilocos Sur through a partnership with the University of Northern Philippines in the late 1980s. It later became an independent college offering computer and non-computer courses. It previously operated in the same location as Lyceum de Ylocos and is now located in a building near the University of Northern Philippines' Vigan Campus.
• Divine Word College of Vigan (formerly known as Colegio de la Inmaculada Concepción) — this is the oldest privately funded school in Ilocos Sur. It was founded in 1822 by priests from the Society of the Divine Word (SVD).
• Ilocos Sur Community College
• Macro Colleges — this was the first computer college in the province. It started as a shop offering computer services and now operates as a K-to-12 College at Quezon Avenue. It is currently managed by the Nueva Segovia Consortium of Cooperatives.
• STI College
• University of Northern Philippines Main Campus — located in Barangay Tamag. It is the oldest state university in Northern Luzon and was established by Republic Act 4449, authored by Congressman Floro Crisologo.

Media

• PTV Vigan Channel 4
• ALLTV2 Vigan Channel 11
• GNN Vigan Channel 30
• TV5 Vigan Channel 32
• UNTV Vigan Channel 36
• Sonshine TV Vigan Channel 38
• GTV Vigan Channel 40
• One Sports Vigan Channel 46
• GMA Vigan Channel 48

• Eaglevision Cable
• Vigan Satellite Cable TV
• Cignal TV
• Sky Direct

• DZVV Bombo Radyo 603 (Bombo Radyo Philippines)
• DWAE Radyo Pilipinas 747 (Philippine Broadcasting Service)
• DWRS Commando Radio 927 (Solidnorth Broadcasting)
• DZNS 963 Radyo Totoo (Catholic Media Network)

• 91.7 Brigada News FM (Brigada Mass Media Corporation)
• 94.1 Magik FM (Century Broadcasting Network)
• 98.9 XFM Vigan (Southern Broadcasting Network / Y2H Broadcasting Network, Inc.)
• 99.7 Core FM (Iddes Broadcast Group)
• 100.5 Campus Radio (University of Northern Philippines)
• 105.3 iFM Vigan (Radio Mindanao Network)

Notable individuals

• Leona Florentino, a Filipina poet, dramatist, satirist, and playwright known as the Mother of Philippine Women's Literature. She has been honored in France, Spain, and the United States.
• Chavit Singson, a former politician and businessman.
• Floro Crisologo, a lawyer and politician.
• Vincent Crisologo, a former politician.
• Rogelio Singson, a former politician and former cabinet member.
• Marcelino Crisólogo, a politician, poet, writer, and playwright. A street named Calle Crisologo or Mena Crisologo was named in his honor.
• Isabelo de los Reyes, a patriot, politician, writer, journalist, and labor activist.
• Deogracias Victor B. Savellano, a former governor, former vice governor, former House of Representatives Undersecretary for Livestock at the Department of Agriculture, and former mayor of Cabugao.