Dingras


Huddled in a fertile valley and surrounded mostly by mountains, Dingras has been dubbed the rice granary of Ilocos Norte. The floodplain on which Dingras stands is fed by the Padsan river and its latticework of estuarine tributaries is a sight to behold.


Year established: 1598
No. of Barangays: 31
Market days: Wednesday, Friday and Sunday
Fiesta: March 14 to 20
Population: 35,793

Suggested Itinerary

  • The massive hulk of the old church in Dingras has attracted generations of tourists. There are ongoing efforts at rehabilitation, and in recent time masses have been celebrated in the historic site. The impressive church, though badly battered, gibes interested visitors the best opportunity to study brick architecture in the province.
  • The Dingras church’s façade, recalls the lines of the 1760 Manila Cathedral (which design in turn can be traced to the church of II Gesú in Rome).
  • Much of the brickwork have been exposed, because most of the protective palitada (lime plaster) has crumbled: on some walls, it is possible to see holes meant to anchor the bamboo framework from where masons troweled the plaster.
  • It is possible to see the many layers of brick making up the walls, and also the variety of bricks: rectangles of different sizes, pie slices for the columns, and leaf-and-volute shapes for the Composite capitals.
  • The old convento, now a school, forms an “L” with the church façade, an unusual configuration but reminiscent of the arrangement at Laoag.
  • On the road to San Nicolas are two brick cemeteries: the Catholic cemetery built toward the second half of the 19th century, and the Municipal cemetery dating from the early American period.


Famous People

  • Enriqueta de Peralta (July 15, 1882 – April 13, 1940)

Was an Ilokana poet, social worker, and an advocate of women’s rights and issues. Among the women’s organizations where she became a member and officer were the Dingras Women’s Club, Ilocos Norte Women’s Club, and the Provincial Women’s Club of Ilocos Norte. She also established the Puericulture Centers of Northern Luzon, was an auditor of the Rural Credit Association of Northern Luzon, and a delegate to the 1920 Infant Mortality Conference in Manila. Peralta also proposed the celebration of a Mother’s Day to the National Convention of Women’s Club and worked for the passage of a legislation that will grant Filipino women the right to vote. Died April 13, 1940.

  • Josefa Llanes Escoda (September 20, 1898 – January 6, 1945)
    Was born in Dingras, Ilocos Norte, on September 20, 1898. Well-known Filipino advocate of women’s right of suffrage and founder of the Girl Scouts of the Philippines. During World War II she was imprisoned with her husband Colenel Antonio Escoda by the Japanese in Fort Santiago. She was last seen on January 6, 1945 and presumed that she was executed.

 

Images of Dingras

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