Laguna Churches - CINQ!

Still high from the super late Chowking lunch, we finally reached Nagcarlan.

Thirteenth stop, Nagcarlan Church



St. Bartholomew Church



As we entered the church grounds, I somehow found the church a bit familiar, like I’ve seen it before but couldn’t quite pinpoint when or where.  Déjà vu?  No, jologs-attack, it was the church in the Kampanerang Kuba series of ABS-CBN. J  This time my camera battery gave up on us and it’s a good thing A brought his.

Lucky us again, there was a wedding going on so it was hard to take good shots of the altar.  While I was busy trying to shoot some, A went to the office to ask for directions going to the Underground Cemetery and this is where it got ugly.  The manang in charge during that time was being grouchy so A heard a mouthful after asking nicely…of course A won’t let her get away with it so he said “Bakit ang sungit-sungit nyo?  Taga-simbahan pa naman kayo!”  As we passed by the office and A was telling me what happened, he pointed to the manang and said “Sya yun!  Sya yung masunget!”  Of course, we had to go at once before the manang could retaliate.  Oh, we are so evil…and we know it! J

 

With quick directions from the nice locals just outside the church, we got to the Underground Cemetery.

Fourteenth and LAST stop, Underground Cemetery

Nagcarlan Underground Cemetery

 I was gripped with intense awe by this cemetery.  Exage na kung exage! J  It’s so unique and a true-blue heritage landmark.  It is said that it’s the only underground cemetery that has been built in the Philippines and is considered a historical landmark because the underground crypt was  used by Filipino revolutionary leaders in Laguna as a secret meeting place in 1896. 

Professional photography is not allowed and we were asked by the friendly caretaker to turn off the flash of our camera if we’re taking pictures of the underground crypt.  The caretaker also said that prominent Catholic families and priests are buried here.  I’d say that the National Historical Institute has done a good job preserving and managing this place.  It is still owned by the Catholic Church because of the chapel.  And though not being used anymore, the chapel served as the last station of the funeral rites before entombment and it’s also where the priest gave his last blessing.

There’s no entrance fee but I encourage you to donate in their cash box right after you sign the visitors’ logbook.  And make sure that you don’t visit on a Monday as they’re closed, like any other museum.  They’re open from 8am to 4pm but they let us stay until 5pm…pretty considerate because they knew that we drove a long way to get there.

The lawn of this cemetery is perfectly-manicured and not a trash is in sight.  I would love to spend lazy afternoons here, reading a book or just letting my mind wander.  Good thing, I don’t believe in ghosts. J



The Nagcarlan Underground Cemetery is the best way to end this day-tour.  Tired but pretty satisfied from the Ultimate Visita Iglesia, we headed towards San Pablo to get to SLEX.

Thanks again, A!  Did I mention that I have the itinerary for the other churches that we missed?  Let me know when can we do this, please? J