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Sunday, September 28, 2014

Visiting the Nagcarlan Underground Cemetery


One of the places to visit when you went to Laguna is the Nagcarlan Underground Cemetery. This quiet place is located along the busy road of Nagcarlan. The cemetery is located under a church that was built in 1845. It was built and designed for burial masses by a Franciscan priest named Fr. Vicente Velloc. 

In 1978 the cemetery was declared by the National Historical Institute as a national historical landmark. Aside from being a burial site for elite Catholic families, the cemetery became a secret meeting place for the revolutionary Filipinos of the KKK during the 1896. During the World War II, the burial site also became a safe house for our soldiers. 


entrance to the church and cemetery


the Nagcarlan Curch surrounded by tombs and a lush garden


You will feel serenity as you reached the place. The architectural design of the church invites people to come and enter the place. Upon entering the church, you will be asked to sign up your name and residence in a logbook by the National Historical Institute. It is important that you write your name; this helps the National Historical Institute to track the number of tourist who came to the place. There is a feeling of coldness as you walked downstairs the cemetery. I believed that it is because of the rock walls that formed the crypt. If you looked at the encryption on the tombs you will see that the oldest date’s goes way back to 1886.   

Today, there are no regular mass held at the church. Masses are only held during the Feast of the Christ the King and Holy Week. During Lenten Season a Senakulo is being held at the place.



the altar inside the church


going down the crypt  


the tombs inside the underground crypt






The Nagcarlan Underground Cemetery is open during Tuesdays to Sundays at 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. If you are commuting, you can reach the Nagcarlan Underground Cemetery by riding a jeep bound to Liliw. The cemetery is hard to missed because of its architecture that stands out along the Nagcarlan road.  



a closer look at the tombs





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