Taal Heritage Town, Part 2: The Interiors

A walk through the streets of Taal town will not be complete without visiting the interiors of some of the ancestral houses there and what is regarded as the biggest church building in the Philippines. In previous visits we stepped inside two of the more well-known houses in Taal. During our latest visit we made sure to tour the insides of a few more and got a pleasant surprise at one of them.

Minor Basilica of St. Martin of Tours/Taal Basilica

Also known as the Taal Basilica, the Minor Basilica of St. Martin of Tours is the largest church building in the Philippines and the largest Catholic church in Asia, measuring 88.6 meters (291 ft.) long and 48 meters (157 ft.) wide. It sits atop a low hill overlooking Balayan Bay and towers over the town, making it difficult to miss. It is even visible in some parts of the neighboring town of Lemery.

Like many Spanish-era churches in the country, the Taal Basilica began its life in 1575 as a simple structure of light materials along the shores of Taal Lake in the old location of Taal town. It was rebuilt in 1642 using stronger elements but was destroyed in the largest recorded eruption of Taal Volcano in 1754. (One can still see the ruins of this church at the town of San Nicolas.) With the move of Taal town to a location farther away from the lake, the church followed suit with construction commencing in 1777. It was still being finished in 1849 when an earthquake destroyed it. Rebuilt again, it was finally completed in 1878 in its present form and declared as one of the country’s National Shrines in 1974. A gutsy survivor indeed. Like most Spanish-era churches here.

Built in the neo-classical architecture style with a cruciform layout, this church features an elegant façade with 24 Ionic and Doric columns in 2 rows, 6 on top of the other. Inside, what struck us most about the basilica was its size and spaciousness. The walls and ceiling are finished in cream and peach, highlighting the intricate designs. During our latest visit the basilica’s dim interior lighting infused with sunlight filtering through the windows and the dome above gave it an otherworldly appearance. It was easy to see why this church was declared a national shrine.

Villavicencio Wedding Gift House

We’ve visited this house before but accompanied our nephew for a tour of the house’s interior. This house was given as a wedding gift by Don Eulalio Villavicencio to his wife Gliceria Marella in 1872. It sits beside the ancestral home of the Villavicencio couple (the Casa Villavicencio or Casa V), a house inherited by Don Eulalio from his parents.  

The Villavicencios are not as well-known as other revolutionary heroes but played a big part during the Philippine Revolution of 1898 against the Spanish colonizers. Both Don Eulalio and Doña Gliceria were mestizos, descendants of mixed marriages of Spanish colonizers and Filipino natives, but gave their time, resources, and knowledge in their countrymen’s fight for freedom. They gave a huge sum of money to the Propaganda Movement that Jose Rizal used to publish his two novels – the Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo that eventually ignited the spirit of nationalism and revolution among Filipinos. (In gratitude, Juan Luna would later paint portraits of the couple.)

Don Eulalio would later be imprisoned at Fort Santiago in Manila for his involvement with the Katipunan. The Spanish offered to release him if Doña Gliceria revealed information about the revolutionaries, but she refused saying that she “would consider it insanity to carry his surname if I should obtain his liberty by betraying him and his cause.” Don Eulalio would later die 3 months after his release from prison. An unfazed Aling Eriang (as Doña Gliceria was locally known) would continue to contribute moral and material support to the revolutionaries. Her house became a secret storage for arms and ammunition and a clandestine meeting place for revolutionaries. She even donated one of her ships, the SS Bulusan to the fledgling Philippine Navy (becoming its first ship) and would continue to help Filipino forces in the subsequent fight against American occupiers. Such was her stature during that era that she would later be called the “godmother of the revolutionary forces.”

A unique feature of the Villavicencio Wedding Gift House is its blue and yellow exterior finish. (The Casa Noble, now also owned by one of the Villavicencios, has a similar color combo but both are rare for ancestral houses in the country.) The upper floor has equally bright and colorful interiors with the walls and ceilings painted yellow and decorated by curlicues and fleur-de-lis patterns. Also inside are replicas of Juan Luna’s portrait of Don Eulalio and Doña Gliceria Villavicencio, two revolutionary figures who are only now being recognized for their patriotism.

Galleria Taal

The Ilagan-Barrion-Innumerable ancestral house at the town’s main street – the Calle Marcella Agoncillo – was built in the 19^th century. It is now the Galleria Taal, a camera museum showcasing the collection of Manny Innumerable, the great grandchild of Domingo Ilagan and Maria Martinez. Manny was also responsible for restoring this house in 2004. He is a photography enthusiast who amassed a camera collection so extensive that when camera and lens manufacturer Leica opened in the Philippines, they borrowed priceless Barnack models from Manny to exhibit.

Upon entering the Galleria Taal we were greeted by a small restaurant at the ground floor. The stairs led to a shiny wooden second floor with cabinets displaying old cameras, some dating back to the 1800s when photography had just been invented. Of special interest was a Nikon FA SLR, a film camera wrapped in fine lizard skin with its metal parts coated in 24-karat gold. Nikon produced only 500 (some say 2000) of these cameras to commemorate its win in the 1984 Camera Grand Prix. Currently, only 2 people in the country own this camera. It has never been used.

Manny’s camera collection is extensive, featuring bulky, accordion-like box cameras from the 1800s to newer lightweight digital cameras. There are also several interesting TLR (twin lens reflex) cameras that we’ve seen in old movies but did not know how they work or why they have 2 lenses. The old cameras are said to have been painstakingly restored by Manny himself. The museum guide also mentioned that there are more old cameras at Manny’s home that have not been displayed here. Just to amass this collection is already quite a feat but to be able to restore all of them is mind-blowing. Also included are several restored old photographs and a copy of the only photograph taken of Jose Rizal’s execution in 1896 by Spanish photographer Manuel Arias.

Top L: 19th century photo replica of Spanish mestizos with Aeta boy; Top R: A Chinese-Filipino mestiza; Bottom: Demonstrating the use of a Daguerreotype camera.

We were given a demonstration of how the first photographs were taken using a Daguerreotype camera (1840s to 1860s). Well not exactly a complete demo because no actual photos using copper plates were taken. But it really would have been cool if Galleria Taal did a demo (perhaps for a fee) on this. We recently saw a video of a man in Afghanistan who takes photos of tourists using this ancient Daguerreotype process.

Paradores del Castillo

After spending the whole morning touring Taal we were famished and headed for Cucina de Jardin, the restaurant at Paradores del Castillo. Originally built and owned by Hermenegildo del Castillo and his wife Leonor Sanchez in the 1920s this house eventually fell into disrepair and was practically abandoned as their heirs migrated to America. In 2009 Ernie Villavicencio, who had restored a good number of homes in Taal, acquired the house from the heirs – his cousins – and used it as a storage facility for 5 years. He and his wife Rio then embarked on a restoration work in late 2014.

The restoration work was finished in 2015 as a bed and breakfast place. It follows the Spanish practice of transforming old castles, monasteries and historic buildings into government-run bed and breakfast facilities. The name comes from the Spanish word parar (local para) meaning to stop and stay. Del Castillo is the surname of the original owner but also literally means “the castle,” hence the name of the place literally means to “stop at the castle.”

Although we didn’t stay at Paradores we got to explore the ground floor with its high ceilings and open air feel. Staying here will give you a feel of living in an ancestral house in the late 1800s to early 1900s but with modern conveniences such as air conditioning, flat screen cable TV, iPod docks and wifi. We only toured the ground floor of the Paradores, spending much of our time at their outdoor restaurant. At the view deck near the restaurant, we caught a panoramic view of nearby Caysasay Church and the surrounding areas including Lemery town, Pansipit River, the mountains of Calaca and Balayan Bay.

Despite having been to Taal for a tour of these ancestral homes and its other attractions five times already, we feel we could be back at this heritage town not too far from now. Recent efforts to restore many other ancestral domains are ongoing, including the restoration of historic Casaysay Church, means there is more to look forward to. And we have yet to revisit the famous balisong (fan knife) shops and their hand-crafted jusi and piña fabrics for classic barong Tagalogs, the Philippines’ national dress.