Facade of main entrance arch and gate

A short tricycle ride from the beautiful church of San Jose, Camarines Sur is the catholic cemetery. It still has its original cemetery entrance arch and parts of the perimeter wall intact but only the cemetery chapel facade base is left, now a ruin. Still original niches can be found at the back part and filled with new ones.

The cemetery entrance has a triangular pediment with three tapering finials except that only the left one is still intact, the center broken off while the right member is completely gone. The black stone, probably the same type used in building the church has been eposed to the elements. There are no inscribed dates or other information that can be seen at the front.

The heavy looking base has four decorative columns and a wide enough entrance arch but the way the pediment was built looks awkward, an after thought. It’s not well proportioned compared to the base as much of the top finish is gone. At the back, one can see that the pediment is made of mamposteria, rocks piled on top of each other.

As far as the base of the cemetery chapel is concerned, its design is similar with the entrance arch. With the pediment gone, we can’t really say that it is exactly the same. Two flanking finials remain. Much of the structure is also built of mamposteria as can be seen at the back.

The perimeter wall is still intact although parts have eroded and some columns have started to erode. Interestingly, some parts have retained the balustrade of this wall. As these images were taken in 2006, I’m not sure how the current situation is.

Estan Cabigas is a multiawarded blogger and freelance photographer based in Makati City, the Philippines. A true blue Cebuano, he makes stunning images and meaningful photo stories. He has writtten for CNN Go and his photograph was published in the May 2010 issue of the National Geographic Magazine.

To know more about him and his photography, visit estancabigas.com.

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