miss iggy and panay's big bells

miss iggy's back at panay church in panay, capiz, in the phillipines!

this time she made it up the belfry. a climb of almost 70 steep steps, this was no little feat for this little iggy. behind her are people from the mindanao region admiring the 300-year old bells.

here she is with the biggest bell, made from 70 sacks of coins donated by the townspeople.

and inside the bell, where the current townspeople are still contributing to the bell's overall aesthetic.

for those who can't go up the belfry the church has installed a replica bell outside of the church. it doesn't offer the same experience as climbing up a steep and narrow staircase but it does offer a preview of panay's big bells.

it's been said that the louder the sound of a church's bells, the bigger its territory is. like old-school cellsites, these big bells serve an important role in sending signals to the townspeople that the church is in their country and awaiting their submission. wider clanging coverage means more land area and more prospective souls for recruitment. this is important when one takes into account that religion was used to colonize and enslave the Philippines for more than 300 years. and if these bells were made out of coins donated by the townspeople, miss iggy thinks this project was a very successful enterprise indeed!