Victorias, officially the City of Victorias ( hil, Dakbanwa sang Victorias; fil, Lungsod ng Victorias), is a 4th class
component city in the
province
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outs ...
of
Negros Occidental
Negros Occidental ( hil, Nakatungdang Negros; tl, Kanlurang Negros), officially the Province of Negros Occidental, is a province in the Philippines located in the Western Visayas region. Its capital is the city of Bacolod. It occupies the nor ...
,
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 90,101 people.
Victorias is notable for the
St. Joseph the Worker Chapel, which was declared as an
Important Cultural Property of the Philippines in December 2015.
It is also the site of
Victorias Milling Company
Victorias Milling Company () is a publicly-listed company in the Philippines that was established in 1919. It is largest producer of sugar in the country and one of the largest sugar millers and refineries in Asia. Its core business is the pr ...
, the world's largest integrated sugar mill, sitting on a compound that makes it the Philippine's largest sugar refinery.
Victorias City also serves as the access point to the
Northern Negros Natural Park, popular among hikers visiting
Mount Mandalagan and
Mount Silay.
Victorias City is from
Bacolod
Bacolod, officially the City of Bacolod (; hil, Dakbanwa/Syudad sang Bacolod; fil, Lungsod ng Bacolod), is a 1st class Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Regions of the Philippines, region of Western ...
.
Geography
Barangays
Victorias City is politically subdivided into 26
barangay
A barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as barrio (abbreviated as Bo.), is the smallest administrative division in the Philippines and is the native Filipino term for a village, district, or ward. In metropolitan ...
s.
Climate
Demographics
The people in the city speak the
Hiligaynon language
Hiligaynon, also often referred to as Ilonggo or Binisaya/Bisaya nga Hiniligaynon/Inilonggo, is an Austronesian regional language spoken in the Philippines by about 9.1 million people, predominantly in Western Visayas and Soccsksargen, most ...
(often called Ilonggo).
Filipino and
English are generally understood.
Economy
Religion
Notable religions include:
*
Roman Catholicism
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
*
United Pentecostal Church International
The United Pentecostal Church International (UPCI) is a Oneness Pentecostal denomination headquartered in Weldon Spring, Missouri, United States. The United Pentecostal Church International was formed in 1945 by a merger of the former Pentecostal ...
*
Baptist Bible Fellowship International
The Baptist Bible Fellowship International (BBFI) is a conservative Baptist Christian denomination. It is headquartered in Springfield, Missouri.
History
The Fellowship was founded during a meeting in 1950 at Fort Worth in 1950 by a group of ...
*
Seventh-day Adventist Church
The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbath, an ...
*
*
Iglesia ni Cristo
*
Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The group reports a worldwide membership of approximately 8.7 million adherents involved in ...
*
Apostolic Pentecostalism
*
Evangelical Protestantism
Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "born again", in which an individual experi ...
*
Philippine Independent Church
, native_name_lang = fil
, icon = Logo of the Philippine Independent Church (Aglipayan Church).svg
, icon_width = 80px
, icon_alt = Coat of arms of the Philippine Independent Church
, image ...
Churches
Notable churches include:
*
St. Joseph the Worker Chapel, also known as the Angry Christ Church
*Ultrafidian Center
*The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Victorias City
*Our Lady of Victory Parish
St. Joseph the Worker Chapel
Within the Victorias Milling Company's complex is the
St. Joseph the Worker Chapel, a masterpiece considered the first example of modern sacral architecture in the Philippines and raised to the status of Important Cultural Property by the
National Museum of the Philippines
The National Museum of the Philippines ( fil, Pambansang Museo ng Pilipinas}) is an umbrella government organization that oversees a number of national museums in the Philippines including ethnographic, anthropological, archaeological, and vis ...
in 2015. The chapel was designed by the famous Czech Architect
Antonín Raymond.
Its
mural
A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage.
Word mural in art
The word ''mural'' is a Spanis ...
of the Angry Christ was painted by international artist
Alfonso Ossorio. The mural has been featured in various publications such as ''
Life Magazine
''Life'' was an American magazine published weekly from 1883 to 1972, as an intermittent "special" until 1978, and as a monthly from 1978 until 2000. During its golden age from 1936 to 1972, ''Life'' was a wide-ranging weekly general-interest ma ...
''. Its fierce, vivid colors gave the church its most known name, the "Angry Christ Church".
Festivals
The city celebrates the annual Kadalag-an Festival, a charter anniversary held on March 21, and the annual Malihaw Festival on April 26.
The city also celebrates the Kalamayan Festival every December. The word "Kalamayan" depicts what Victorias is known for, its “kalamay” or refined sugar and its sugar industry, the Victorias Milling Company.
Notable personalities
*
Noven Belleza - first champion of
Tawag ng Tanghalan; born in Victorias
*
Alfonso A. Ossorio - Filipino-American abstract expressionist artist; though born in Manila in 1916 to a Negros Occidental family, his ''Angry Christ Mural'' is connected to Victorias City
*
Albee Benitez - politician, business magnate
Education
Notable educational institutions include:
*
Central Philippines State University – Victorias City Campus
*
Don Bosco Technical Institute, Victorias
*
La Salle College–Victorias
*
Negros Occidental National Science High School
*
Colegio de Santa Ana de VictoriasColegio de Santa Ana de Victorias
/ref>
*Victorias National High School
*Victorias Elementary School
*Laura Vicuña Women Development & Training Center (Hda.Malihao, Barangay XX, Victorias City)
*Jack & Jill School/Castleson High
References
External links
Victorias City profile at the official website of Negros Occidental
* Philippine Standard Geographic Code
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
br>Philippine census information
Local Governance Performance Management System
{{Authority control
Cities in Negros Occidental
Component cities in the Philippines