Category Archives: Ancestral Houses

Casa Gorordo Museum (Cebu City, Cebu)

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The author in front of Casa Gorordo Museum

From the Yap-Sandiego Ancestral House, Rhea, Rona, Javelyn and I walked the short 140 m., via Eduardo Aboitiz St., to the Casa Gorordo Museum.  Upon entry, we first registered ourselves at the museum office and paid the PhP120 per pax admission fee.

Check out “Yap-Sandiego Ancestral House“

As a guided tour was still ongoing, we waited for our turn at a patio that now serves as an airconditioned waiting room for visitors, its furniture partially made of bamboo.

Visitors Waiting Room

Near the patio is the zaguan, the old basement storage area for crops and livestock.  After a few minutes our guide arrived in the person of museum curator Florencio Moreno II who explained the rooms and the artifacts.

Javelyn, Rona and Rhea with museum curator Florencio Moreno II

Located at the middle of the historic Parian District, this historic, two-storey, former bahay na bato (a typical architectural type during the Spanish colonial period) was built in the 1850s and was originally owned by Alejandro Reynes y Rosales.  In 1863, it was bought by Juan Isidro Gorordo, a Spanish merchant.

Plaque installed by National Historical Institute

According to historian Resil Mojares (author of the book “Casa Gorordo in Cebu: Urban Residence in a Philippine Province 1860-1920”), four generations of the Gorordo family, from 1863 to 1979, have lived in this house, including Bishop Juan Perfecto Gorordo y Garces (1862 to 1934), the first Filipino bishop of Cebu.

Portrait of Cebu Bishop Juan Gorordo

In 1980, it was acquired by the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation, Inc. (RAFI). Between 1980 and 1981, after it was acquired by RAFI, the house underwent extensive renovation and restoration works and, on December 15, 1983, was officially opened to the public as a museum. On September 24, 1991, Casa Gorordo Museum was designated as a National Historical Landmark by the National Historical Institute.

Paintings and Farming Implements

In 2005, to replace aging elements, a major second renovation was undertaken. In late 2013, it was again closed to give way to an enhancement project and reopened to the public on November 2016 with an upgrade aimed at elevating visitors’ experience by incorporating more interactive presentations and digital technology.

1939 Schwinn Mead Ranger Bicycle

The museum is maintained by RAFI through its Culture and Heritage Unit. The foundation aims to promote, through the museum, the importance of history and culture to the kids and millennials. RAFI also continued the house traditions of the Gorordo family, which include the Sinug sa Casa Gorordo (the original Sinulog steps done a day after the festival’s grand parade), the Kuwaresma procession, Pista ni San Juan and the display of the Gorordo Belen.

Mobility in Early 20th Century

The house, surviving two turbulent revolutionary conflicts and the Second World War, showcases mid-19th century and early 20th century Philippine culture and lifestyle.  It has an enriched artifact collection reflecting the lifestyle of Cebuanos from the late 1800s to the pre-World War II years.

Courtyard

It has a courtyard, a terra-cotta tile roof with Chinese upturned eaves, bayong (mahogany) wood sidings, ground floor with coral stone blocks (glued with egg whites), tugas (molave) and narra hardwood flooring and capiz windows.

1860s Tankard

1880s Flat Iron

The stonewalled ground floor displays contemporary paintings by Cebuano artists; miniature furniture sets; a 1939 Schwinn Mead Ranger bicycle; an 1860s tankard, an 1880s flat iron (plantsa); a corn mill (gilingan ng mais); models of vehicles used in Cebu; ceramics; pottery; eighteenth and nineteenth century agricultural implements (plow, tools, etc.) and other household objects such as a duwang (a large hardwood basin), four big palo-palo, clothes wringers and dryers, and a wooden for ironing clothes.

Miniature Furniture Set

Now an interactive museum mixing a little bit of old and new, Moreno also showed us a 3D virtual map (the only one in the city that has this map), an interactive exhibit that showcases the history of Cebu City from 1614 to 1945.

Mini Theater

At the mini-theater which can accommodate 30 to 40 people, we were shown a short, 10-min. film that traces the development of the payag or bahay kubo (native house) to become the balay nga tisa (house with clay tiled roof) such as Casa Gorordo. There’s also a diorama of Cebu’s social life with prominent families, originally from or linked to Cebu’s Parian district, listed.

Interactive Exhibit of Prominent Cebuanos in Old Parian

After a short flight of four stone steps which ends in a descanso (landing), we went up a higher flight of wooden stairs with banisters that lead us to a caida (anteroom) and the sala (living room) fronting the street and flanked by two bedrooms.

Stairs leading to the second floor

Intricate wood carvings on the ceiling divide the house into function rooms. The sala has rattan sets and Vienna chairs, cabinets and tables.

Second floor living area

The bedrooms have canopied, four-poster beds, made of narra or molave, with delicate carvings; rocking chair and baby crib.

Master’s Bedroom

Ladies’ Room

The Ladies’ bedroom has a crescent moon-shaped mirror said to bring good luck.

Crescent-shaped mirror of Ladies’ Room

The library has old photographs of Cebu during the early American era, books (including faded copies of Rizal’s novels) and an old globe with the former names of countries.

Old globe with the former names of countries at Library

The office has nineteenth century period furniture.

Comedor (Dining Area)

The comedor (long dining hall) showcases gold and silver kubiertos (silverware), antique plates and tazas (cups).

China Cabinet

The kitchen, with American colonial fixtures, also has eighteenth century water jars and cooking utensils.

American-era, ceramic Berkefeld Water Filter at kitchen

There’s also a chapel as Juan Gorordo, the first Filipino Bishop of Cebu, was one of the house occupants.

Chapel

Prior to leaving the museum, Rona, Rhea and I engaged in some cosplay by having our “period photos” taken, at a photo studio (obviously a late addition), wearing period costumes.

Victor gramophone

Other interesting items include a giant grandfather clock, a Victor gramophone and an 1890 Singer Sewing machine.

Azotea (Patio)

The second floor also has an unusual trellised azotea (patio), overlooking the garden (where there’s a deep but not functioning well), with 80-year old flower vines (called the “Bridal Bouquet”).

The unused well at the courtyard

Recently, the patio has been the venue for book launchings and lectures.

Museum Shop

Across the patio is a museum shop (which also underwent enhancement) that sells Casa Gorordo Museum-branded merchandise that cannot be bought from other stores.  From here, a stairs leads down to a ground floor coffee shop.

Museum Cafe

Casa Gorordo Museum: 35 Lopez Jaena St., Cebu City, Cebu. Open Tuesdays to Sundays, 9 AM to 12 noon and 2 to 6 PM.  Closed on Mondays and holidays. The museum offers different informal guided tour packages, ranging from P120 to P180. The P180 rate will include a tour guide, free use of tablets (to scan the QR codes affixed to the items on exhibit, which give more detailed information), free earphones, a booklet, a souvenir item, and a free drink at the museum cafe.  A 20% discount is given to senior citizens, students (13 to 18 years of age), and undergraduate college students. Tel: (032) 411-1767 (RAFI Culture and Heritage Unit) and (032) 418-7234 loc. 532.  E-mail: rafi.chu@rafi.org.ph. Facebook page: RAFI-Casa Gorordo Museum.

Yap-Sandiego Ancestral House (Cebu City, Cebu)

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Yap-Sandiego Ancestral House

After breakfast at One Central Hotel, we still had time to kill before the 1 PM grand opening of the hotel, so I, together with lady media colleagues Maria Rona Beltran, Rhea G. Vitto-Tabora and Javelyn J. Ramos, decided to do some museum sightseeing.  Outside the hotel, we hailed a jeepney that took us to the Yap-Sandiego Ancestral House, part of the Casa Gorordo Museum Complex.

Check out “Casa Gorordo Museum”

After paying the PhP50 admission fee to a lady receptionist clad in old Filipiniana dress and logging our names in the visitors’ logbook, we were toured around the house by a well-versed guide.

L-R: Ms. Maria Rona Beltran, Ms. Rhea G. Vitto-Tabora, Ms. Javelyn J. Ramos and the author

The Spanish-Colonial era Yap-San Diego Ancestral House, in Cebu City’s Parian District (founded in 1590 after the arrival of Chinese traders), is said to be the first Chinese house built outside of China.

Listening to our guide explaining the history of the house

Often referred to by the locals as the Balay nga Bato ug Kahoy (“House of Wood and Stones”), this ancestral house was built, sometime between 1675 and 1700, and is considered as one of the oldest existing residential structures in the country and a proof that the Parian district in Cebu City was a bustling barangay where houses are often designed with a second storey.

The house was originally owned by Don Juan Yap, a Chinese merchant, together with his wife, Doña Maria Florido.  They had three children, namely: Maria, Eleuterio and Consolacion.

Portrait of house owners Val and Ofelia Sandiego

In the 1880’s, their eldest daughter, Maria Florido Yap, married Don Mariano Avendano San Diego from Obando, Bulacan, who was, at that time, the Parian’s cabeza de barangay (district head). Since then, the structure had become a busy center of activity in Parian.

In 2008, the house was handed down to the aforementioned Val Mancao San Diego, Doña Maria’s 10th generation great great grandson, and his wife Ofelia Zozobrado-San Diego.

An art collector, one of Cebu’s famous choreographers and a heritage icon, Val believe that this ancestral house was part of Cebu’s history and heritage so he carefully restored his ancestor’s home and turned it into a private museum.

Fine china

And though there have been offers to buy the house from him, he still continues to ignore such proposals and vows never to sell this historical house in his lifetime, no matter what the offer is.

Religious statuary

Though Val and his family don’t live in this house, every so often, during weekends, they still come over to stay at the house. This ancestral house was been featured in the book Chinese Houses of Southeast Asia of noted Chinese cultural historian Ronald G. Knapp (2010, Tuttle Publishing)

An antique harp

This 2-storey house, its design combining Spanish and Chinese architectural influences, has a ground floor built with coral stone, glued with egg whites, and a second floor built with tugas (molave) and balayong wood. The curving roof was made of tisa (red terra cotta clay tiles) from China, each piece weighing 1 kilogram.

Four-poster beds

Outside is a beautiful garden (a boat from the 1800s is currently being used as a flower bed) and a still functional old well (its water is only used for the plants).

The beautiful garden

The ground floor was unpaved (since it was only used as a warehouse or kamalig) but, before we ascended the second floor’s creaking staircase, we had to wear shoe cover booties to protect the hardwood floor upstairs from scratches.

Stairway

The house was filled with well-crafted life-sized statues, religious icons and images of santos, especially of the Sto. Niño (including one sitting on a rocking chair) and angels, in every size and material imaginable (the family was known to be deeply religious).

Dining Area

There’s also an impressive array of new contemporary and ancient artworks; priceless, century-old antique pieces; a wooden harp; fine china and cutlery; antique décor; clay jars for storing water and Cebuano-made native period furniture made of balayong, tugas and narra.

Most the old items which were preserved here came from Carcar, Cebu. The front door has a knocker that came from a Chinese temple.

The bedroom had a four-poster bed and a wooden baby crib. Also at the second floor is a banggerahan with its rack for drinking glasses and cups. Having survived natural calamities and earthquakes, the house has retained over 90% of the original structure.

Yap Sandiego Ancestral House: 155-Lopez Jaena corner Mabini St., 6000 Parian District, Cebu City, Cebu. Open daily, 9 AM – 7 PM. Admission: PhP50 per person.  Tel: (032) 514-3002, 514-3003 or 253-5568. Facebook: www.facebook.com/Yap-Sandiego-Ancestral-House-214835631903226/

How to Get There: From Marina Mall, ride a multicab or jeepney that carries a ‘highway’ signage and tell the driver to drop you off at Maguikay. From there, ride any Mandaue jeepney (with a “Catedral” or “Colon” signage) that will take you to Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral or Colon Street. Upon reaching these landmarks, The Yap-San Diego Ancestral House is just a walk away. At SM Cebu or near Radisson Blu Hotel, you can ride a jeep with 01K code. Go down at Shamrock and take a short walk to the right where you’ll find the Parian Plaza and its Heritage of Cebu Monument. The house is just a few steps away from it.

Check out “Heritage of Cebu Monument“

Pres. Carlos P. Garcia Heritage House (Tagbilaran City, Bohol)

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Pres. Carlos P. Garcia Heritage House

Part of the Panglao Bluewater  Resort-sponsored Tagbilaran City Tour

The 2-storey residence of former Philippine President Carlos P. Garcia, it was built from 1953-1954 on the former residence of the Jorolan family. As Garcia spent most of the year in Manila, the Tagbilaran house was just a vacation house.

NHI Plaque

Years after Garcia’s death, the house was rented to the Provincial Government of Bohol for use as a provincial museum. The collection consists of preserved local flora and fauna, small replicas of the century-old churches, as well as artifacts sourced from different parts of the province.

The ground floor. On the left is the piano donated by the Japanese Embassy

On September 4, 2009, it was declared as a heritage house by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines. On November 25, 2011, the management of the museum was transferred, from President Carlos P. Garcia Foundation, Inc. (PCPGFI), to the Bohol provincial government. The Bohol Provincial Museum collection is now located in the Bohol Branch of the National Museum of the Philippines, in the Provincial Capitol Complex.

The president’s work desk

Locals refer to it as the White House largely because of the dominant color of the house paint. On display are the president’s memorabilia such as photographs, medals and certificates, suits, and books.

Pres. Garcia’s suit

The president’s chess set

Portrait of Pres. Garcia and wife Leonila

Also on display are the opulent the wardrobe of the Mrs. Garcia and their only daughter, paintings, and furniture belonging to the Garcia family including the former president’s bed and work desk, the chess set which Garcia played with professor friends every night and the Yamaha grand piano given by the Embassy of Japan.

President Carlos P. Garcia Heritage House: F. Rocha cor. A. Holtanosa Sts., Tagbilaran City, Bohol. While admission is free, a donation box is set up by the entrance.

How to Get There:  The house is just a few blocks away from the Bohol Provincial Capitol and the Cathedral of Saint Joseph the Worker.

Bohol Tourism Office: Governor’s Mansion Compound, C.P.G. Ave. North, Tagbilaran City, 6300 Bohol.  Tel: +63 38 501-9186.  E-mail: inquire@boholtourismph.com.

Panglao Bluewater Resort: Bluewater Rd., Sitio Daurong, Brgy. Danao, Panglao, 6340 Bohol.  Tel: (038) 416-0702 and (038) 416-0695 to 96. Fax: (038) 416-0697.  Email: panglao@bluewater.com.ph. Website: www.bluewaterpanglao.com.ph.  Manila sales office: Rm. 704, Cityland Herrera Tower, Rufino cor. Valera Sts., Salcedo Village, 1227 Makati City, Metro Manila.  Tel: (632) 817-5751 and (632) 887-1348.  Fax: (632) 893-5391.

The Ancestral Houses of Sitio Ubos (Tagbilaran City, Bohol)

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Part of the Panglao Bluewater  Resort-sponsored Tagbilaran City Tour

Tagbilaran City has a number of heritage houses that can be found in Sitio Ubos (Lower Town), the oldest district of the city. During this period, old rich Chinese families built their houses in this formerly major port town in the city to establish their wealth. In 1916, there were only four families living there – the Oppus-Borjas, the Rochas, the Manigques and the Butalids. Through the positioning of their houses, the Rochas almost wholly owned the place, showing their great economic clout. We visited three of these, all located in close proximity to each other.

Fortich-Rocha House

The first house we visited was Fortich-Rocha House, the home of Don Fernando Gorraiz Rocha. Formerly a renowned schoolteacher (known as Maestro Andoy) in the Spanish school for boys and also a former governor of Bohol in the early 20th century, Don Fernando lived here with his wife, Dona Catalina Fortich, a local lady of Spanish extraction. The house, probably built before the 1850’s, was made with wooden boards and had a nipa roof.

The ground floor of this house once served as a bazaar.  However, the house was made popular by the baking skills of the Las Hermanas Rochas, the unmarried sisters of Don Fernando, who once produced the best pastries in town – hojaldres, broas, kinatloan and the plebeian fare called dugmok (toasted left-over bread).

Antonio Rocha House

The most distinct and impressive house in Sitio Ubos today is probably the house of the mestizo sangley Don Antonio Rocha, once the escribiente (clerk) of the Tagbilaran parish.   It has a tile roof and stone skirting at the ground floor. On the back wall is inscribed the date 1831, most likely the year when this house was built. In the 1970’s, the owners rented out some of the rooms to students in Tagbilaran.

Later on, the owner sold it to a Manila-based antique collector who shelled out some earnest money so as to gain foothold in the house, after which he began methodically stripping the house of valuable antiques, including the frame of an Antonio Rocha painting.  He then sold it to the present Swiss owner.

On the opposite side of the road is the impressive Beldia House, built in 1858 by Don Esteban Butalid, a gobernadorcillo and businessman. Don Manuel Timoteo Hidalgo, the brother-in-law of Jose Rizal (married to sister Saturnina), stayed in the house for four months (in January 1889 and then again in December of the same year) during his exile to Bohol.  It is also possible that Jose Rizal himself may have visited the house when he supposedly toured Bohol in 1894. During the Spanish regime, the house served as a provisional municipio before a new one, long since disappeared, was built high on the cliff above Sitio Ubos. In 1971, Judge Antonio Beldia bought the house from the Butalid-Calceta-Gallares family corporation.

The Beldia House

The Beldia House, with its elegant floating volada atop massive masonry walls, has a lot in common with its neighbor, the equally outstanding and exceptional Antonio Rocha House.  Both have curving gambrel roofs of clay tiles with its bent-down ridges.  Unique in the province, it gives the houses a distinct Chinese feel. Likewise, both houses have massive ground floor walls made with coral stone.

Hidden in one of the side walls (which used to be the main façade), fronting a now vanished road, is the original main entrance, now serving as window to the former office of the late Judge Beldia. Its elaborate Neo-Classic facade, unique in Boholano domestic architecture, is flanked by two pilasters with particularly attractive Composite capitals (a whimsical interpretation of the Corinthian model) hewn from coral stone.  Its three-centered arch is topped by an architrave of Classic proportions.

Originally having a U-shaped floor plan, the house’s internal courtyard has now been roofed over and now serves as the main entrance. The upper floor has since undergone considerable alterations.  There are new jalousie windows and the old wooden panels were largely replaced by contemporary materials.

Panglao Bluewater Resort: Bluewater Rd., Sitio Daurong, Brgy. Danao, Panglao, 6340 Bohol.  Tel: (038) 416-0702 and (038) 416-0695 to 96. Fax: (038) 416-0697.  Email: panglao@bluewater.com.ph. Website: www.bluewaterpanglao.com.ph.  Manila sales office: Rm. 704, Cityland Herrera Tower, Rufino cor. Valera Sts., Salcedo Village, 1227 Makati City, Metro Manila.  Tel: (632) 817-5751 and (632) 887-1348.  Fax: (632) 893-5391.

Balili Heritage House (Tagbilaran City, Bohol)

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Balili Heritage House

Part of the Panglao Bluewater  Resort-sponsored Tagbilaran City Tour

Our first stop in our Tagbilaran City tour was the majestic, two-storey Balili House, built sometime in 1934 by the then bachelor Mr. Eladio Balili, a history teacher of  Bohol National High School and businessman  (dried fish, lumber, furniture, transport and construction),  who later married Ms. Pancrasia “Caring” Castro.

The grand concrete stairway leading up to the porch

Barely visible from the street, its main facade is crowned by a wide overhanging gable roof with roof eaves adorned with Art Nouveau carvings.

The park-like garden

We passed through a park-like garden before climbing a sweeping grand concrete stairway leading to the artistically designed, second floor porch with its rounded corners, rough-hewn wooden posts, topped by semicircular arches with embroidery-like carvings on the fringes.

Arch. Gloria Balili-Katz (right) briefing members of media

The delicate calado wood carvings (in harp design), lattice screens, and barandillas (framed by carved wooden harps and friezes) underneath the windows add grace and playfulness to the house. The two sets of sliding capiz windows, with air vents above it, flank the porch on both sides.

February 18, 1957 (Eladio’s 58th birthday) picture of the Balili Family. Gloria is at the center

Elegant wooden canopies, with tooth-like fringes, protect the windows. The house has a square floor plan, unusual for Bohol houses.

The dining area

Upon entry, we were all welcomed by architect Gloria Balili-Katz, the youngest (of seven children) of Eladio and Pancrasia who gave us a tour of the well-preserved, incredibly beautiful mansion. According to her, the house served as a venue of grand social functions of Tagbilaran which were attended by prominent political and social personalities from both the local and national level.

Photo of Roxas-Quirino meeting on March 9, 1946

One such grand gathering was the March 9, 1946 meeting of then Pres. Manuel A. Roxas with senator (and later president) Elpidio R. Quirino, former governor Perfecto Balili (the brother of Eladio) and other important local political personalities. In March of 1942, during World War II, the Balili Mansion was requisitioned for use by high ranking Japanese military officers.

In the 1950s, after building a new larger house on the huge compound, Eladio finally moved out. The descendants of Eladio also preferred to build their own homes on the large family compound. The house was rented out but its last tenants moved out in 1998. For various reasons (accessibility, water supply, fear of ghosts, etc.), it was vacant for more than a decade.

Office desk with the agila chair (which Roxas sat on) behind it

Today, this well-maintained, virtually unchanged “sleeping beauty” has reawakened after it was converted into The Oasis lodging house (PhP450/pax for a fan-cooled room and PhP750/pax for an airconitioned room).  Meals are available upon request.

Antique wall-mounted clock

Inside are wooden walls (above which are calado woodwork) and ceiling, old photographs (including the photo of the Roxas-Quirino meeting) and floor of wide hardwood planks. Antique furnishings include the wooden chair (where Roxas sat on) with an agila (eagle) at its crest, an office desk, a butaka (a chair with long arm rests) and an old clock.

The sliding capiz windows with ventanillas below it

Balili Heritage House: 6 J. Borja St., Tagbilaran City. Tel: (038) 411-2511.  Mobile number: (0918) 299-1865. Website: www.oasislodgeHeritagehouse.com.

How to Get There: the house is located near the old Holy Spirit School, in front of Mang Inasal.

Bohol Tourism Office: Governor’s Mansion Compound, C.P.G. Ave. North, Tagbilaran City, 6300 Bohol.  Tel: +63 38 501-9186.  E-mail: inquire@boholtourismph.com.

Panglao Bluewater Resort: Bluewater Rd., Sitio Daurong, Brgy. Danao, Panglao, 6340 Bohol.  Tel: (038) 416-0702 and (038) 416-0695 to 96. Fax: (038) 416-0697.  Email: panglao@bluewater.com.ph. Website: www.bluewaterpanglao.com.ph.  Manila sales office: Rm. 704, Cityland Herrera Tower, Rufino cor. Valera Sts., Salcedo Village, 1227 Makati City, Metro Manila.  Tel: (632) 817-5751 and (632) 887-1348.  Fax: (632) 893-5391.

Bonifacio Trial Museum (Maragondon, Cavite)

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After our visit to the Church of the Assumption of Our Lady in Maragondon, Jandy and I drove about 500 m. to the nearby Bonifacio Trial Museum.  As it was Holy Week, the museum was closed. On the facade are two historical markers.

Bonifacio Trial Museum

The first marker, in English, was installed in 1948 by the Philippines Historical Committee (PHC) and the second, in Filipino, was installed in 2000 by the National Historical Institute (NHI), the later predecessor of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines.

This two-storey bahay-na-bato (stone house) was the site where brothers Andres Bonifacio and Procopio Bonifacio were court martialed by a military court presided by Gen. Mariano Noriel from May 5 to 6, 1897. The court  found the two accused guilty of treason and recommended execution.

 Check out “VIsita Iglesia 2017”  and “Church of the Assumption of Our Lady” 

The house has capiz sliding windows, ventanillas and calado woodwork on the eaves

Built by Teodorico Reyes in 1889, this house was formerly known as the Roderico Reyes House (which was the name of the former owner). The house now belongs to Mr. Jose Angeles.  On June 4, 1997, the house was designated as a National Historical Landmark by the National Historical Institute and, in 1999, it was fully restored and declared as a National Heritage Site.

National Historical Institute (NHI) Plaque

Today, this stone, brick and wood ancestral house has been converted into a museum called the Museo ng Paglilitis ni Andres Bonifacio or Bonifacio Trial Museum. It was formally inaugurated on November 28, 2014.

Philippine Historical Committee (PHC) Plaque

Bonifacio Trial Museum: Col. Crisostomo Riel St., Brgy. Poblacion 1-A, Maragondon, Cavite. Mobile number: (0917) 553-7375 (Mr. Melanio Guevarra – museum curator). E-mail: bonifaciotrialmuseum@gmail.com. Open Tuesdays to Saturdays, 8 AM – 5 PM. Admission is free.

Alberta Uitangcoy-Santos House (Malolos City, Bulacan)

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Alberta Uitangcoy-Santos Ancestral House

After our visit to Barasoain Church and its two museums (Museum of the Malolos Republic and Museo Diocesano de Malolos), participants of the Automobile Association of the Philippines (AAP) caravan headed to the city’s Kamistisuhan District (a neighborhood of handsome ancestral houses belonging to some of Malolos’s rich and illustrious citizens), making a stopover at restored Alberta Uitangcoy-Santos House.

Here, we attended a lighthearted lecture on the 20 Women of Malolos delivered by Women of Malolos Foundation Inc. President Vicente “Bong” Enriquez.

Check out “Barasoain Church,” “Museum of the Malolos Republic,” “Museo Diocesano de Malolos” and “The Kamistisuhan Houses of Malolos City”

 

The Alberta Uitangcoy-Santos House, an early 20th-century bahay-na-bato (stone house) in the city of Malolos, belonged to couple Paulino Santos (a propetario and cabeza de barangay) and Alberta Uitangcoy-Santos, the fiery feminist Impong Iding who was the leader of The Women of Malolos.

Vicente “Bong” Enriquez, President of the Women of Malolos Foundation Inc.

Alberta is revered for her contributions to Philippine women’s rights, the fight for Philippine independence, and a large part of Malolos’ traditional cuisine during the Spanish and American colonial periods.

Bong touring participants of the AAP Drive Caravan around the museum

The original house, first built in 1890, was destroyed by a fire in 1910 and rebuilt and completed in 1914.

Museum entrance

Today, the house is owned by Josefa Santos-Tibajia and Lourdes Santos-Herrera, the granddaughters of Paulino and Alberta, and is under the care of the Women of Malolos Foundation Inc, a non-profit organization which spearheads initial efforts of restoration through their “Own a Piece of History, Adopt a Heritage House” project.

Declared a National Heritage House by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines, the Alberta Uitangcoy-Santos House was turned into the Museo ng Kababaihan ng Malolos (the Museum of the Women of Malolos), a privately owned museum,  during a soft launch on April 14, 2013 attended mostly by members of the Women of Malolos Foundation and descendants of the 20 women.

 

Towards the latter portion of the Spanish colonial period in the Philippines, a group of young and affluent mestiza–sangley women from the Kamistisuhan District of Malolos, lead by Uitangcoy, signed and presented a petition written by Teodoro Sandico, a notable reformist, asking for his permission to allow them to establish a night school where they can learn Spanish and other academic subjects.

On December 12, 1888, the petition was handed, by Uitangcoy, to Governor General Valeriano Weyler. The other women fended off the furious Spanish friars who wanted to know what was in the letter. Ultimately, despite staunch opposition from the friar curate, the women won the lengthy battle for approval.

Reformist leaders Marcelo H. del Pilar and Graciano Lopez Jaena, after hearing of the women’s victory, wrote about the women in La Solidaridad, the Filipino liberal publication. On February 22, 1889, Dr. Jose Rizal followed suit in his letter “Sulat sa mga Kadalagahang Taga-Malolos” to the group wherein he lauded their brave efforts towards reform.

 

The beautiful embossed metal ceiling

During the Philippine Revolution and the Philippine-American War, a number of the women established the Cruz Roja (Philippine Red Cross) and aided revolutionaries by passing letters and communications hidden in their dresses.

During the American Colonial Period, ten of the twenty women participated in establishing the Pariancillo chapter (one of the five barrio committees that comprised the local Malolos, Bulacan committee) of the Asociacion Feminista de Filipinas, which aimed to tackle several women’s rights issues of the day.

Photos of some of the 20 Women of Malolos

After our lecture, Bong toured us around the house’s Museo ng Kababaihan ng Malolos. Of particular interest on that floor was the beautiful embossed metal ceiling.

The Alberta Uitangcoy-Santos House houses four exhibit halls (showcasing collections of surviving artifacts and other memorabilia relevant to the narrative of the women and the Uitangcoy-Santos family) and a lecture hall.

On January 18, 2017, the museum temporarily closed after Carlo Herrera (a fifth-generation grandson of Alberta Uitangcoy, and then a senior Art Management student specializing in heritage curation and preservation at the Ateneo de Manila University), during a visit to his family’s estate, found that the conditions of the museum and its exhibits were unsatisfactory.

After creating a blueprint for its restructuring, Herrera was named head curator of the museum by the owners and the usufructuary. He then began work on the estate by conducting physical repairs, restoring and preserving all the decaying articles in the museum, re-curating the entire collection, and opening more exhibit halls after clearing out debris stuffed in the home.

On March 12, 2017, Herrera reopened the museum with a newly furnished and restored interior, along with world-class preservation units. A new tour program, which Herrera had produced and conducted himself for the museum and estate, was launched and tours included a comprehensive lecture, visits to all four exhibit halls and two other heritage structures, and an interactive food-tasting exhibit of Alberta Uitangcoy’s recipes prepared by Malolos locals. Throughout February 2017, tickets to the tours were sold via Herrera’s website and were sold out in three weeks.

Alberta Uitangcoy-Santos House: F.T. Reyes St. (formerly known as Calle Electricidad), Brgy. Sto. Nino, Malolos City, Bulacan.

Automobile Association Philippines (AAP): 28 EDSA, Greenhills, San Juan City.  Tel: (632) 655-5889.  Fax: (632) 655-1878.  E-mail: info@aap.org.ph. Website: www.aap.org.ph.

Mozart’s “Geburtshaus” (Salzburg, Austria)

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Mozarts Geburtshaus

The bright-yellow Mozart’s “Geburtshaus,” one of the most frequently visited sights and places of interest in Austria, was the birthplace (January 27, 1756) of the world famous Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Salzburg’s ‘Wunderkind.’  Leopold Mozart (a musician of the Salzburg Royal Chamber) and his wife Anna Maria Pertl (whom he married on November 21, 1747), lived on the house’s third floor for a total of 26 years, from 1747 until 1773 when the family moved to the house we know today as the “Mozart Residence,”standing on Makartplatz Square. Seven children were born here but only two, Wolfgang Amadeus (the seventh) and his sister Maria Anna (‘Nannerl’), survived.

The house, built in the 12th century, sits on ground which had been part of the garden belonging to the Benedictine monks of St Peter’s, Salzburg. Otto Keutzel, a merchant, is mentioned as the owner in 1408.   In 1585, Chunrad Fröschmoser, the court apothecary (the coiled serpent in the lion’s mouth, the symbol of Asclepius on the doorway, testifies to his ownership), purchased the property.

The author

In 1703, the house came into the ownership of the Hagenauer family (the house is also called the Hagenauer Haus or “Hagenauer House”) who had arrived in Salzburg around 1670. Specifically, they included Joseph Matin Hagenauer and Johann Laurenz Hagenauer (merchant, purveyor of spices and friend and landlord of the Mozart family).

The third floor then consisted of a kitchen, a small cabinet, a living-room, a bedroom and an office.  In 1880, the International Mozarteum Foundation set up the first museum in Mozart’s ‘Geburtshaus.’ Over the decades, the house has undergone a systematic process of remodeling and expansion.

The three current exhibitions, set up by Thomas Wizany (architect and caricaturist for the Salzburger Nachrichten newspaper),  highlighted three themes: “Mozart and Salzburg University,” “Mozart’s Friendships with Salzburg Families” and “Church Music and Saintly Veneration,” are centered on Mozart’s original instruments (passed on from Mozart’s widow, Constanze Nissen, through her sons Carl Thomas and Franz Xaver Wolfgang, and now owned by the International Mozarteum Foundation) and authentic portraits. The displays also feature typical everyday furniture and objects used by Mozart’s contemporaries.

Here, at this typical family home during the Mozart, we went through the original rooms in which the Mozart family lived and learned details of the early life of the composer – the domestic circumstances in which he grew up, when he began to play music, who were his friends and patrons, his relationship with his family, his passionate interest in opera, and much more.

The displays presented a range of artifacts.  Period furniture at the first floor replicates living conditions in Mozart’s day while original documents and paintings illustrate his life in Salzburg.  The second floor is devoted to Mozart’s interest in opera and includes the clavichord on which he composed The Magic Flute.

The third floor exhibits Mozart’s childhood violin, harpsichord, as well as the majority of the portraits painted during his lifetime (including “Wolfgang Amade Mozart at the Piano,” the unfinished oil portrait, one of Mozart’s striking portraits, painted by Mozart’s brother-in-law Joseph Lange in 1789), keepsakes (a lock of his hair, buttons from his jacket,  etc.) mementos, documents, letters belonging to the Mozart family, and early editions of his music. There are also records of his life in Vienna and of his wife and family.

Mozarts Geburtshaus: Getreidegasse  9, 5020 Salzburg, Austria.  Tel:+43 (0) 662 844313. Fax:+43 (0) 662 84 06 93.  E-mail: museum.service@mozarteum.at. Open daily 9 AM- 5:30 PM; daily, 8:30 AM -7 PM (July, August) and 9 AM -3 PM (December 24).  Last admission is 30 mins. before closing.  It is closed periodically, during Mozart Week, when concerts take place. Guided tours are by prior arrangement.  The museum is not wheelchair-accessible and dogs are not allowed (except assistance dogs).

Admission: €11.00 (adults), €3.50 (children, 6-14 years),  €4.00 (youth, 15-18 years), €9.00 (handicapped persons with ID, accompanying person free, if indicated on the ID), €23.00 (families, 2 adults and children under 18).  €9.00 for groups of 10 adults or more (per person), students (up to 27 years) and senior citizens and €3.00 for school groups (6-18 years) per person.  SalzburgCard: one time free admission

The Ancestral Houses of Camalig (Albay)

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Gonzales Ancestral House

Gonzales Ancestral House

After lunch at Rayben’s Place Restobar & Grill, we decided to burn some calories by doing a walking tour of some of Camalig’s Spanish and American-era ancestral houses.  All were within walking distance from the municipal hall.

Camalig Municipal Hall

Camalig Municipal Hall

Most of these bahay na bato (stone houses) typically have persiana (sliding wooden louver storm windows); ventanillas (openings with wooden balusters called barandillas) below the windows; and bandejado (decorative panels).

Capiz shell sliding windows (Melba Moyo House)

Capiz shell sliding windows (Melba Moyo House)

Media agua (awning), supported by wooden or ornate iron braces, wraps around over windows which use concha (checkerboard capiz shell panels) for its espejo (wrap around transom).

Persiana louvers (Gonzales Ancestral House)

Persiana louvers (Gonzales Ancestral House)

Eave calado and persiana louvers (Don Sixto Nuyda House)

Eave calado and persiana louvers (Don Sixto Nuyda House)

Their interiors have high ceilings; calado (wooden fretwork) on the upper walls; antique furniture and wide wooden floor planks.

Don Sixto Nuyda House - interior

Don Sixto Nuyda House – interior

The Nolasco House, built in the early 19th century, was owned by Diego Nolasco, a former town mayor.  The house was once used as the town’s temporary municipal hall.  Ruins of the old house, believed to be the municipal hall and judicial building, can be seen at the rear of the existing structure.

Nolasco Ancestral House

Nolasco Ancestral House

The Jaime Moyo Ancestral House, originally owned by Heron Moyo (brother of Teodoro Moyo whose descendants own the Melba Moyo House), is presently owned by Heron’s son, Jaime.  During World War II, it was once occupied by Japanese Gen. Tomoyuki Yamashita.

Jaime Moyo House

Jaime Moyo House

The Gonzales Ancestral House, presently owned by Ms. Ninibeth Gonzales, was built in 1920 and is one of the best-preserved ancestral houses in the town.  Its media agua is supported by ornate iron braces.

Ventanilla with barandillas (Gonzales Ancestral House))

Ventanilla with barandillas (Gonzales Ancestral House))

Ornate iron braces (Gonzales Ancestral House)

Ornate iron braces (Gonzales Ancestral House)

The Anson Ancestral House was originally owned by Toribia Iglesia Moya, sister of former capitan municipal (1877-1878) Doroteo Iglesia Moya and mother of Anacleto Moya Solano, last capitan municipal (1897-1900) and first presidente municipal (1901-1902) during the American era.

Anson's Ancestral House

Anson Ancestral House

It was later bought by the Ansons and transferred to the Valencianos in 1920 and returned to the Ansons in 1980.  It is distinguished by its outdoor main staircase leading to the living room and azotea.  During the Spanish era, it was used as quarters for the guardia civil.

Stairrway leading to living room

Outdoor stairway leading to living room (Anson Ancestral House)

The Melba Moyo House, built in 1932, was first owned by Barbara Nieves Moyo who late bequeathed it to her son Teodoro Moyo.  After Teodoro’s death, the house was manage by his wife Melba Grageda Moyo.  During World War II, high-ranking Japanese officials lived here.

Melba Moyo House

Melba Moyo House

One house we did get to enter, with the permission of the owner, was the Don Sixto Nuyda House, built in Geometric style of architecture in the 19th century by the previously mentioned capitan municipal Doroteo Iglesia Moya.

Don Sixto Nuyda House

Don Sixto Nuyda House

The Nuydas are affiliated with the Moyas through nephew Marcos Obligacion who took a Nuyda wife. Justino Napay Nuyda, a Bicolano zarzuela (a lyric-dramatic entertainment genre of Spanish origin) writer and the first Albay Second District congressman (1935-1941), once resided here.

Diamond-patterned concha windows (Don Sixto Nuyda House)

Diamond-patterned concha windows (Don Sixto Nuyda House)

We entered the house  via a uniquely designed stone porch that corresponds to the gillian of traditional Filipino pile houses.  Inside is an exemplary showcase of diamond-patterned concha.  It was damaged during the 2006 typhoon Reming which left 66 people dead in Albay.  The ground floor has been boarded up.

Don Sixto Nuyda House - Interior

Don Sixto Nuyda House – Interior

Mayor’s Office: Municipal Hall, Poblacion, Camalig, 4502, Albay. Tel.: (052) 484-1965

Municipal Tourism, Culture and Arts Office: Camalig Tourism  and Pasalubong Center, Brgy. 2, Camalig, Albay.  Mobile number: (0927) 621-3315.  E-mail: camalig_tourism@yahoo.com.

Provincial Tourism and Cultural Affairs Office (PTCAO): Albay Tourism Bldg., Albay Astrodome Complex, Capt. F. Aquende Drive, 4500 Legaspi City, Albay.  Tel: (052) 481-0250 and (052) 742-0242. E-mail: albaytourism@yahoo.com and albaytourism@gmail.com.

House Museum of Alexandre Chavchavadze (Georgia)

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After lunch at Pheasant’s Tears in Sighnaghi, Buddy, Pancho, Melissa, Riva, our guide Sopho and I continued on the final leg of our 3-day, GNTA-sponsored Georgian Countryside Tour, a 50-km./40-min. drive to the village of Tsinandali in the Kakheti region (79 kms. east of Tbilisi).

The house-museum (photo - Ms. Riva Galvestan)

The House Museum of Alexandre Chavchavadse (photo:- Ms. Riva Galvestan)

The village, lying in the Alazani River valley, was inherited by the 19th century aristocratic poet (considered to be the founder of Georgian romantic poetry), writer, military leader, diplomat, public figure and inventor Alexandre Chavchavadze (1786-1846), one of the most important figures of his time, from his father, Prince Garsevan  Chavchavadze.

Alexandre Chavchavadze (photo - www.tsinandali.com)

Alexandre Chavchavadze (photo: www.tsinandali.com)

Alexandre refurbished the estate, constructed a new Italianate palace and, in 1835, built a decorative garden, a tranquil refuge in the shadow of the dramatic neighboring Caucasian Mountains. Here, he frequently entertained his foreign guests with music, wit and, most especially, the fine vintage wine made at his estate winery (marani), Georgia’s oldest and largest.

The park (photo: Ms. Riva Galvestan)

The park (photo: Ms. Riva Galvestan)

Familiar with European ways, Alexandre combined European and centuries-long Georgian winemaking traditions when he built the winery in 1846.  He died  in a bizarre accident in Tbilisi when his cloak got caught in the wheel of his carriage and he was thrown out, hitting his head on the ground.

Another view of the garden

Another view of the garden

Alexandre’s vineyard is still cultivated to this day and the highly regarded dry white Tsinandali is still produced here. Visitors can see a bottle of Saperavi wine from 1839, the first harvest at Tsinandali, plus a unique collection of 16,500 bottles of other sorts of wines from many countries.

The author waiting outside the manor's iron gate (photo - Ms. Riva Galvestan)

The author waiting outside the manor’s iron gate (photo: Ms. Riva Galvestan)

On February 8, 1886, after David Chavchavadze’s (Alexandre’s son) death, the Chavchavadze family estate and park were acquired by the Estate Department of the Russian Empire and passed to the property of Tsar Alexander III and the Imperial family due to the failure to pay the debt to the Russian Public Bank.

Photo of Chavchavadze's descedants (photo - www.tsinandali.com)

Photo of Chavchavadze’s descedants (photo: www.tsinandali.com)

David had to mortgage the house to raise 14,000 silver rubles as ransom for the 23 women and children (including his wife and children) as well as servants of the household kidnapped on  September 1854 by the charismatic Muslim leader Imam Shamyl and his Lezgin tribesmen from the Dagestan mountains.

Melissa at the stairway (photo: Ms. Riva Galvestan)

Melissa at the stairway (photo: Ms. Riva Galvestan)

In 1887, the Tsinandali garden was renovated and, in 1917, was passed to the state. On August 1, 1947, the estate was organized into a museum and, in 2008, underwent renovation works when its rooms were restored with 19th century furnishings.

The White Salon (photo - www.tsinandali.com)

The White Salon (photo – www.tsinandali.com)

The 18-hectare house-museum, now leased to the Silk Road Group, a Georgia-based company, often hosts various exhibitions of works of various prominent Georgian and foreign artists such as Salvador Dali, Elene Akhvlediani, Levan Mekhuzla, Dimitri and Sandro Eristavi, Sergo Kobuladze and Karlo Kacharava. Each season, new exhibits make museum even more attractive, turning it into an important cultural site.

Dining Room (photo: www.tsinandali.com)

Dining Room (photo: www.tsinandali.com)

The perfect mixture of Georgian and European architectural cultures, this relatively small and unpretentious, 2-storey manor house, made with local sandstone, symbolizes the values Aleksandre Chavchavadze wanted to establish in Georgia. The exterior facade features unusually fine stonework and a veranda that incorporates Eastern ornamental woodwork and decorative elements that wraps around two sides of the house.

Crockery (photo: www.tsinandali.com)

Crockery at the dining table (photo: www.tsinandali.com)

The rectangular house is situated in the midst of a beautiful and serene 18-hectare park. Its unique and interesting layout features a mixture of natural and decorated gardens. The first landowner in Georgia to employ European landscape designers, Alexandre had the park was renovated in 1887 by the famous landscape designer Arnold Ragel.

Bedroom (photo: www.tsinandali.com)

Bedroom (photo: www.tsinandali.com)

The park, a harmonious synthesis of wilderness and decorative landscapes, incorporates a number of existing oak, lime and maple trees (now 400 to 500 years old) and consists of orchards, walks and paths lined with vines, flowerbeds, and traditional Georgian rose bushes. On August 20, 1987, the Georgian government placed Tsinandali park on the list of the National Monuments of Landscape Architecture.

The Library (photo: www.tsinandali.com)

The Library (photo: www.tsinandali.com)

We arrived at the estate just before closing time, parking along a driveway flanked by superb sentinels of cypress trees.  From the imposing iron entrance gate, we walked toward the house, anxious to get away from the biting cold.  Upon entering, we were met by our English-speaking Georgian guide who directed us, up the grand stairway, to the second floor where we were to explore nine rooms of the house that show what the good life in Kakheti must have been like in the 19th century. The exhibits, exclusively devoted to Alexandre’s memorabilia and that of his family, were captioned in Russian and Georgian only.

Nina's French piano (photo: www.tsinandali.com)

Nina’s French piano (photo: www.tsinandali.com)

Our guide showed us objects that represent both the poet’s life and creative work –  his epistolary and iconography archive; editions on various subjects in French, German, English, Polish and Armenian languages; manuscripts; works of photographer Ermakov; samples of painting and lithography; household objects; crockery (Chinese, Japanese, French, German, Italian, Georgian, Russian) and musical instruments.

L-R: Melissa, Sopho, our Georgian guide and Consul Cunanan (photo - Ms. Riva Galvestan)

L-R: Melissa, Sopho, our Georgian guide and Consul Cunanan (photo – Ms. Riva Galvestan)

The museum still had some of its original Georgian, Russian and French  furniture, including the French piano (the first recorded piano in Georgia) with a folding keyboard, bought from Europe and given by Alexander Griboedov to his wife Nina (Alexandre’s daughter). There were also interesting paintings and photos of people and events associated with the house, including the Lezgin raid. There’s also a reproduction of the Winterhalter portrait of Chavchavadze’s wife Salome. Photography wasn’t allowed inside.

The hallway leading to the wine cellar (photo: Ms. Riva Galvestan)

The hallway leading to the wine cellar (photo: Ms. Riva Galvestan)

There is a souvenir shop on the ground floor of the museum where one can find arts and crafts from the Kakheti region. Copies of Nino Chavchavadze’s handkerchief and of artifacts from archaeological excavations in Georgia are among the items for sale.   Before leaving, we had coffee at the museum’s café.

The wine cellar

The wine cellar

Tsinandali Museum: 2217 M-42, Tsinandali, Telavi District. Tel: (+995, 350) 3 37 17. Mobile number: (+995 5 99) 71 41 22.  E-mail: maia_kokocha@yahoo.com. Website: www.tsinandali.com.  Open Mondays to Thursdays, 10 AM – 6 PM, Fridays to Sundays, 10 AM – 7 PM. During the winter months, the museum closes at 5 PM.

Souvenir shop

Souvenir shop

Admission: standard (5 GEL, includes entrance to the garden, museum and vineyard as well as a guide to the museum exhibits), standard + tasting of one sort of Georgian wine (7 GEL), standard + tasting of various Georgian wines (20 GEL), visiting only park (2 GEL), schoolchildren (3 GEL) and university/college students (4 GEL). Entrance is free on May 18 (International Museum Day). Admission is also free for “Museum Honored Guests,” ICOM & UNESCO, children under school age and socially deprived, and refugees. 

Georgia National Tourism Administration: 4, Sanapiro St, 0105, Tbilisi, Georgia. Tel: +995 32 43 69 99. E-mail: info@gnta.ge. Website: www.georgia.travel; www.gnta.ge.

Qatar Airways has daily flights from Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (Clark, Pampanga) to Tbilisi (Republic of Georgia) with stopovers at Hamad International Airport (Doha, Qatar, 15 hrs.) and Heydar Aliyev International Airport (Baku, Azerbaijan, 1 hr.). Website: www.qatarairways.com.