The Virgin Mary is one of the most widely revered religious icons in the Philippines, a deeply Catholic country.
These Virgin Mary grottos pop up randomly in street corners all over Metro Manila.
The DIY ethos of these little structures speaks volumes about the Filipino character. These little structures are very well clean and well maintained despite being located in some very-high trafficked areas where the surroundings are sketchy, polluted, or situated in nooks beside crumbling walls. Some even have fresh flowers in makeshift vases.
They’re really cool, and more often than not, we locals overlook them. Some are too big to be ignored, but many are really small, just perched in front of some tree or hidden behind a parked car in a narrow street corner. You can only see a bit of the grotto’s blue frame peeking out.
These grottos have different personalities. In some, the statue is barely recognizable as Virgin Mary, like this one. It looks like some cute cartoon.In some, you can see the types of bottles the residents of that street chose to use as vases. Some are Gatorade bottles, some are mineral water bottles.
The photos in this gallery span 2009-2016.
Click each photo to enlarge.
2013 (see next image for what this looked like 4 years before)
2009 (see previous image for what this looked like 4 years before)
2009
2009
No Parking sign in front of a street Virgin Mary grotto, August 2009
2014
2009
2015
2009
for STREET SIDE GROTTO gallery
2009
2009 (taken with a film camera)
2009
2009, taken with a film camera
2009
2009
2009
2009
2009
Here are some grottoes with their surrounding environments, so you can see where they’re typically found. The photos give the impression that these are large structures, but they’re actually usually small, dwarfed by their environment.
Click the thumbnails to enlarge.
2009
2009
2015
2015
2010
2010
2009
2009
2015
2015
2009
2009
2009
2009
2009
2009
2009
2009
2009
2009
2010
2010
2009
2009
2009
2009
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2009
2009, taken with a film camera
2009, taken with a film camera
2009
2009
2015
No Parking sign in front of a street Virgin Mary grotto, February 2015
2009, taken with a film camera
2009, taken with a film camera
2009
2009
I found these two on two street corners surrounding a Mormon temple. There’s a diagram showing their locations:
2015
2015
2015 (The grotto is on the right side of this photo. See previous photos to zoom in.)
diagram of the two grottoes’ location
2015
2015
2015 (The grotto is on the right side of this photo. See previous photos to zoom in.)
What a beautiful site–I think it’s just wonderful that you have photographed so many of these lovely grottoes around Manila. I’m sure you will be greatly blessed by your efforts to go on all of these little pilgrimages, God Bless You. My husband and I greatly enjoyed seeing them all.
What a beautiful site–I think it’s just wonderful that you have photographed so many of these lovely grottoes around Manila. I’m sure you will be greatly blessed by your efforts to go on all of these little pilgrimages, God Bless You. My husband and I greatly enjoyed seeing them all.
THank you.