Victorias, officially the City of Victorias (; ), is a component city in the

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

Negros Occidental Negros Occidental (; ), officially the Province of Negros Occidental (; ), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Negros, Negros Island. Its capital is the city of Bacolod, of which it is geographically s ...

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. 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, the world's largest integrated sugar mill, sitting on a compound that makes it the Philippine's largest sugar refinery.

Geography

Victorias City is from

Bacolod Bacolod, officially the City of Bacolod (; ; ; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Negros Island Region in the Philippines. With a total of 600,783 inhabitants as of the 2020 census, it is th ...

. It serves as the access point to the Northern Negros Natural Park, popular among hikers visiting Mount Mandalagan and Mount Silay.

Barangays

Victorias City is politically subdivided into 26

barangay The barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as ''barrio'', is the smallest Administrative divisions of the Philippines, administrative division in the Philippines. Named after the Precolonial barangay, precolonial po ...

s. Each barangay consists of

purok A ''purok'' () is an informal division within a barangay in the Philippines. While not officially considered a local government unit (LGU), a ''purok'' often serves as a unit for delivering services and administration within a barangay. ''Pur ...

s and some have

sitios A ''sitio'' (Spanish language, Spanish for "site") in the Philippines is a territorial enclave that forms part of a barangay. Typically rural, a ''sitios location is usually far from the center of the barangay itself and could be its own bar ...

. * Barangay I (

Poblacion ''Poblacion'' (from Spanish '' población'', meaning "population"), sometimes abbreviated as Pob., is a term used in the Philippines to refer to the administrative center, downtown, old town, or commercial area of a city or municipality. It ...

) * Barangay II (Quezon; Pob.) * Barangay III (

) * Barangay IV (

) * Barangay V (

) * Barangay VI (Estrella Village/Salvacion; Pob.) * Barangay VI-A (Boulevard/Villa Miranda/Sitio Cubay/Pasil) * Barangay VII (

) * Barangay VIII (Old Simboryo) * Barangay IX (Daan Banwa) * Barangay X (Estado) * Barangay XI (Gawahon) * Barangay XII (Dacumon) * Barangay XIII (Gloryville) * Barangay XIV (Sayding) * Barangay XV West Caticlan * Barangay XV-A East Caticlan * Barangay XVI (Millsite) * Barangay XVI-A (New Barrio) * Barangay XVII (Garden) * Barangay XVIII (Palma) * Barangay XVIII-A (Golf) * Barangay XIX (Bacayan) * Barangay XIX-A (Canetown Subdivision) * Barangay XX (Cuaycong) * Barangay XXI (Relocation)

Climate

Demographics

Language

The people in the city speak Hiligaynon. Tagalog and English are also generally understood.

Economy

Religion

Notable religions include: *

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

Philippine Independent Church The Philippine Independent Church (; ), officially referred to by its Philippine Spanish name (IFI) and colloquially called the Aglipayan Church, is an independent catholic Christian denomination, in the form of a nationalist church, in the ...

United Pentecostal Church International The United Pentecostal Church International (UPCI) is a Oneness Pentecostal denomination headquartered in Weldon Spring, Missouri. The United Pentecostal Church International was formed in 1945 by a merger of the former Pentecostal Church, Inc. ...

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 at Fort Worth in 1950 by a group of 100 pasto ...

Seventh-day Adventist Church The Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA) 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 Sa ...

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Philippines The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church; ) in the Philippines refers to the organization and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints membership statistics#Membership defined, its members in the Philippines. The Philip ...

Iglesia ni Cristo The (INC; ; ) is an independent Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, church founded in 1913 and registered by Felix Manalo, Félix Manalo in 1914 as a corporation sole, sole religious corporation ...

Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses is a Christian denomination that is an outgrowth of the Bible Student movement founded by Charles Taze Russell in the nineteenth century. The denomination is nontrinitarian, millenarian, and restorationist. Russell co-fou ...

* Apostolic Pentecostalism *

Evangelical Protestantism Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of the Christian g ...

*IKTHUS

Churches

Notable churches include: * St. Joseph the Worker Chapel, also known as the Angry Christ Church *The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Victorias City *IFI Mission Church of St. Andrew the Apostle *Our Lady of Victory Parish Church *Iglesia Ni Cristo - Locale Congregation of Victorias City

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 () is an umbrella government organization that oversees a number of national museums in the Philippines, including Ethnography, ethnographic, Anthropology, anthropological, Archaeology, archaeological, an ...

in 2015. The chapel was designed by the famous Czech Architect Antonín Raymond. Its

mural A mural is any piece of Graphic arts, 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'' ...

of the Angry Christ was painted by international artist Alfonso Ossorio. The mural has been featured in various publications such as ''

Life Magazine ''Life'' (stylized as ''LIFE'') is an American magazine launched in 1883 as a weekly publication. In 1972, it transitioned to publishing "special" issues before running as a monthly from 1978 to 2000. Since then, ''Life'' has irregularly publi ...

''. 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. ;Barangay Festivals • Barangay I – Pasalamat Festival
• Barangay II – Ratsada Festival
• Barangay III
• Barangay IV
• Barangay V
• Barangay VI
• Barangay VI-A – Baybayanon Festival
• Barangay VII – Ati-Atihan Festival
• Barangay VIII – Simboryo Festival
• Barangay IX
• Barangay X
• Barangay XI
• Barangay XII
• Barangay XIII – Hilinugyaw Festival
• Barangay XIV – San Juan Festival
• Barangay XV
• Barangay XV-A
• Barangay XVI
• Barangay XVI-A
• Barangay XVII
• Barangay XVIII
• Barangay XVIII-A – May Flower Festival
• Barangay XIX
• Barangay XIX-A
• Barangay XX – Kasadyahan Festival
• Barangay XXI

Notable personalities

* Noven Belleza - first champion of

Tawag ng Tanghalan ''Tawag ng Tanghalan'' (, abbreviated TNT) is a Philippine television reality competition show broadcast by ABS-CBN. Originally hosted by Jaime dela Rosa, Patsy and Lopito, it aired as a reality competition from 1954 to September 1972 and f ...

; 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 → The Negros Occidental National Science High School or NONSHS is a public science high school at Estrella Road, Brgy. XIV, Victorias City, Negros Occidental, Philippines. It is a Department of Education An education ministry is a national or ...

* Colegio de Santa Ana de VictoriasColegio de Santa Ana de Victorias
/ref> *Victorias National High School *Abelardo D.L. Bantug, Sr. National High School (Hda. Amanda, Barangay VIII, Victorias City) *Victorias City Farm School (Hda. Cuaycong, Barangay XX, Victorias City *Barangay Estado National High School (Estado, Barangay X, Victorias City) *Gawahon Integrated School (Barangay XI, Victorias City) *Victorias Elementary School *Villa 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 Codebr>Philippine census informationLocal Governance Performance Management System
{{Authority control Cities in Negros Occidental Component cities in the Philippines