Santa Barbara is a 3rd class municipality strategically located at the centermost part of the province, 15.7 kilometers away from the capital, Iloilo City. Catmon is the old name of the town. Santa Barbara's landscape is dotted with many scenic landmarks, of historical value not only to Iloilo but to the whole country as well.

One of the better restored and preserved churches in the province, Santa Barbara Church is an excellent example of the Filipino Baroque colonial architecture. It is a neoclassical church where General Martin T. Delgado of the Visayan Revolutionary Government convened the junta that raised the first of cry revolution against Spain in Iloilo. The National Historical Institute declared it as a national historical landmark, in 1991.

Half-kilometer away from the church in Sitio Anghasan is the Roman Catholic Cemetery of Sta. Barbara, constructed in 1845, and is one of the oldest landmarks in the town. Its facade bears Spanish influences and is one of the strongest structure built during the Spanish time, surviving the test of earthquakes.

The Victory Plaza is another site worth visiting with its beautiful landscape, together with the Municipal Bandstand, which was constructed in 1925. It has served as a stage for band and musicians, political rallies, religious program as well as cultural shows and contests since the American era.

Found in the northwestern entrance of the town plaza and facing the municipal building stands the statue in bronze of the town's most distinguished son, Gen. Martin T. Delgado. He is the foremost hero of the revolution against Spain in the Visayas as the commander-in-chief of the revolutionary forces in the these region which drove out the colonizers from the Visayan Islands.

The oldest existing golf course in South East Asia can also be found in Sta. Barbara. Built in 1907 by a group of Scots, English and American expatriates who were working in the Panay Railways, The Sta. Barbara Golf Course to date has a challenging 18 hole golf course (6,056 yards) carved in the hills of Sta. Barbara, Iloilo.

The town festival, the Kahilwayan is a cultural festival in a dance-drama form which showcases the events that led to the historic uprising of the Ilonggos against Spain to its ultimate cry of victory and freedom known to us now as the Cry of Santa Barbara. The Kahilwayan Festival aims to depict the story of the Cry of Santa Barbara in a manner which can bring more color and meaning to the event itself and to draw the interest not only of the people of Santa Barbara but that of other places as well.

Source:

Wikipedia

The Official Online Home of Santa Barbara, Iloilo

Visita Iglesia

Pinoy Travel Blog

Iloilo Golf and Country Club

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