arc of the century

This photo is related to the photo I posted yesterday. Any visitor or new student who enters the Espana main pedestrians' gate is immediately drawn to the Arch of the Centuries, right in front, about fifteen meters away. Classical Greek and Roman in inspiration with its Doric fluted columns, but baroque in its wealth of curving and embossed details, it looks like one of those triumphal arches for victorious Athenian athletes or returning Roman generals that are seen in history books. The medallion arch is usually a memorial for all distinguished Thomasians. The inscription says, "Gateway to the history of the finest breed of Filipinos". On the lower facade of the pillar, a commemorative plaque honors Jose Rizal, national hero and UST alumnus, and another plaque, Manuel L. Quezon, President of the Philippine Commonwealth, also a UST graduate. On the sides of the rectangular top of the arch are panels depicting some milestones in the life of St. Thomas Aquinas. Above all these, sits the serene, regal image of this angelic doctor, scholastic philosopher and theologian, patron of the University and of all Catholic schools.

The side of the arch facing the campus was the main doorway to the university building before it was destroyed by World War II. The stones of that doorway, now rough-hewned and eroded, were transferred and reassembled piece by piece in its present site. The side with its Grecian design facing Espana Street is a reconstruction of the doorway as it originally looked.

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Photos posted on 1/24/2006 08:29:00 AM

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