The Minor Basilica and Metropolitan Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, also known as the Manila Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic basilica and cathedral church in Intramuros, Manila, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Immaculate Conception.
The cathedral serves both as the Prime Basilica of the Philippines and the highest seat of the archbishop in the country. It's the final resting place for former prelates who have served the Archdiocese of Manila and was also used as a venue for requiem mass for former President of the Philippines Corazon Aquino.
The main materials used for the first Cathedral was nipa, wood and bamboo. The fire that razed the city in 1583 prompted the first reconstruction of the church. The second cathedral was erected using stone as its main structure. Over the last four centuries, the Manila Cathedral was repeatedly destroyed by wars and earthquakes seven times. It was in the year 1954 until 1958 when the present cathedral was constructed under then Manila Archbishop Rufino Jiao Cardinal Santos with the supervision of Filipino architect Fernando Ocampo . This time they used imaterials like marble, Roman travertine stone, molave wood, granite, Meycauayan stone, volcanic stones, bricks, iron, galvanized iron, red copper plates, lead, zinc, and Portland cement.
Granite is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) Intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali fedspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies underground. It is common in the continental crust of Earth, where it is found in igneous intrusions. These range in size from dikes only a few centimeters across to batholits exposed over hundreds of square kilometers.
Granite is typical of a larger family of granitic rocks, or granitoids, that are composed mostly of coarse-grained quartz and feldspars in varying proportions. These rocks are classified by the relative percentages of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase, with true granite representing granitic rocks rich in quartz and alkali feldspar. Most granitic rocks also contain mica or amphibole minerals, though a few (known as leucugranites contain almost no dark minerals.
Granite is nearly always massive (lacking any internal structures), hard (falling between 6 and 7 on the Mohs hardness scale), and tough. These properties have made granite a widespread construction stone throughout human history.
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