The grand and baroque cemetery chapel of San Joaquin, Iloilo

The old cemetery chapels located in the camposanto built during the Spanish colonial era is one of the interesting religious heritage structures in the country. Unfortunately, many don’t have the focus they deserve. Only a few remain that still exists in the Philippines and their deterioration continues to this day.

This Top 10 list is a good start and that Filipinos should visit or be aware of. This listing is in no way complete as there are still some places that I have to visit but do note that this list covers cemetery chapels found outside of Metro Manila. Unfortunately, I haven’t found any cemetery chapels in Mindanao. Another note, this doesn’t include mortuary chapels which are found beside or infront of the church.

This is my entry for the Pinoy Travel Bloggers’s blog carnival hosted by The Pinay Solo Backpacker.

1 San Joaquin, Iloilo
Perhaps one of the most beautiful in the country, the cemetery chapel in San Joaquin, Iloilo is a head turner as one passes by the highway. A gated entrance leads to a grand staircase and on to this beautiful baroque structure that always awes visitors.

The cemetery chapel of Cabatuan, Iloilo has stylized bas relief

2 Cabatuan, Iloilo
Cabatuan in Iloilo is known mostly for its massive and beautiful church with a retablos made of sandstone. But few know that its cemetery chapel along the highway has one of the most stylized skull and cross bones in mortuary art during the Spanish colonial period. More info and images here.

Tabaco City cemetery chapel in Albay is unique for its construction material

3 Tabaco City, Albay
The cemetery chapel in Tabaco City is one of the well preserved structures in the Bicol region. It uses black lava stones abundant in the area, similar to the construction material of the old church. It has interesting bas relief details at its facade.

Tayabas's Santuario de las almas

4 Tayabas, Quezon
The Santuario de las almas in Tayabas is one of two cemetery chapel found in the municiaplity. This beautiful structure is one of the biggest in the country and where Spaniards and Filipino elites were used to be interred. Though located a few hundred meters from the basilica, it faces it directly.

Tayabas cemetery chapel in Quezon is unique with its twin towers and architectural style

5 Tayabas, Quezon
The cemetery chapel in Tayabas, Quezon is interesting as it is one of a few chapels with twin belfries, similar to Lucban, in the same province, which is now in ruins. What makes it more interesting is the use of Gothic architectural style which is represented by the trefoil pediment reminiscent of Lucban church and the lancet blind niche, central niche and entrance.

Nagcarlan's cemetery chapel done in the baroque style

6 Nagcarlan, Laguna
Nagcarlan in Laguna is famous for its underground cemetery, the only public catacomb in the country. Like the simbaan a bassit in Vigan, it has an espadana at the top serving as its pediment, a pair of blind oculi and a central niche. It is also the highlight of a circular cemetery.

Vigan's Simbaan a bassit in Vigan City, Ilocos Sur

7 Simbaan a bassit, Vigan City, Ilocos Sur
Historic Vigan City is admired for its old structures and one of these is the cemetery chapel also called Simbaan a bassit. Done in the neoclassical style and adorned with a pair of volutes at the side (a baroque style) and some floral details, its the only one that has an espadana (top part where the bells are hung) in the Ilocos region.

The Calamba cemetery chapel in Cebu City is unique for its beautiful and unusual bas relief of death

8 Calamba, Cebu City
Of the cemetery chapels listed here, its only the Calamba chapel that has been refurbished and renovated badly with the front added with a badly designed portico and the lower portion cemented. This chapel is interesting for its bas relief located at the center of the pediment. It shows death with a scythe, crowned and holding an hour glass which readily drives down to men his mortality.

The quaint baroque cemetery chapel of Laoag City

9 Laoag City, Ilocos Norte
Tucked in one of the least visited places in Laoag City (well, except during 1 November), the cemetery chapel of this city is one of the bigger ones but quaint and built in subdued baroque style. Like Saravia, it is one of the few intact brick cemetery chapel in the country.

Saravia's cemetery chapel with brick facade

10 E.B. Magalona, Negros Occidental
E.B. Magalona, formerly Saravia, in Negros Occidental has a beautiful cemetery chapel that is located near the highway. Of the many places I’ve visited, it is one of the very few brick structure that has an intact facade that I have seen. However, the interior has been renovated already and the roof has been replaced. More info here.

Front wall with huge pillars crowned with finials

It is not known when the old cemetery of Anini-y in Antique, just at the side of the main road and a few kilometers from the town center, was built but the design is the same with the neighboring town of Tobias Fornier (formerly Dao). It consists only of wall with massive rectangular pillars. The front has lower walls and the pillars crowned with finials while the back has higher and the pillars not decorated.

The entrance at the front has two massive pillars, bigger than those found at the walls and I assume that it supported a canopy before. Now, only a modern and cement arch that is very incongruous with the architecture connect these two with an iron wording that reads:

Mabanhaw kami (We will be resurrected)

The walls are made from cut coral stones, just like the church and ruined kumbento.

Backside of entrance arch with the ugly shed

Built by the Dominicans probably in the 19th century, the cemetery entrance in Tuguegarao City would have been a sight to behold, (not as grand as that in Roxas City though) with its beautiful entrance arch made of bricks, a curving pediment with three finials, two flanking the center. The graceful roundness calls to mind the form of the San Jacinto de Cauili ermita near St. Paul in busy Tuguegarao City. Interpreted another way, it looks like a half submerged skull with the eye sockets the portals. At the sides is the equally beautiful brick perimeter fence.

But all that is a memory.

In its place is a rundown structure that has been neglected and allowed to deteriorate. Not minding its heritage significance, a shabby shed has been built infront and behind the entrance arch that blocks the beautiful two arched entrance. Not only that, graffiti deliberately mar its naked brick surface.

The low perimeter walls are also in bad state. It’s the front and one side that is still intact but many parts have weathered or built over with modern niches. Some parts have already deteriorated badly and crumbled away. Curiously, I haven’t seen any remnants or trace of a cemtery chapel either at the center or at the far end. Either it doesn’t really have one or the original has been cleared out.

The cemetery chapel as it looked in July 1986. Note the tejas (tiles) for its roofing

A Simbahan reader, Handel Advento sent me an email together with impressive images of the then Oton cemetery chapel prior to its renovation in 21 October 1997. I was awe struck with its beauty and antiquity, a far cry from what we see now. Handel wrote:

Here are the photos of the Oton cemetery chapel taken around July 1986. A simple camera was used for these shots so I hope you understand the low quality. The chapel just caught my interest along the way to somewhere else and we simply stopped to take pictures.

He continues:

The inscription as seen in your photos now was actually on the right side entrance of the chapel (if you’re facing the front), and there was no inscription on the main entrance at that time. It was also very faded and hardly discernable.

The biggest surprise to me was the tile roof. What struck me when I first saw it was its similarity to the chapel housing Magellan’s Cross in Cebu… And there were no block-like marks on the walls. The whole structure really had the mark of antiquity at that time.

Unfortunately, the tile roofing was removed and thrown away and those block like marks etched, like what we find in most ill defined restoration projects we see around the country. From the main photo, we can actually infer that this chapel really had three portals with the two found at its sides. These portals had the same column, finial and skull and cross bones decoration. As Handel pointed out, these portals also had inscriptions. Probably, during the renovation, they closed the two side entrances.

My gratitude to Handel Advento for this important images and information.

Photo credits: Handel Advento/Maximilius Tuason

Saravia's old cemetery entrance arch and gate

Part of the original wall at the back near the old niches. A much older wall?

Saravia’s old cemetery is still intact with its chapel and portions of the perimeter fence, all made from bricks. Entrance to the area is through a simple arch with a still original but already bent metal gate.

The design of this arch echoes the main design of the chapel’s pediment and portal decorations which is, again, muted. Unlike most other cemeteries, I can’t find any skull and crossbone design or any motif that is connected with death.

The perimeter fence is typical but smaller in scale when compared to those of Cabatuan, Sta. Barbara, Janiuay and Guimbal, all in Iloilo. It still has its original metal grills that is similar in design with the rest. One curious thing about this is, at the back, beside the original niches is still a portion of, perhaps, a much older wall that is made from stone. It has a smaller column and no grills.

Facade of the antique brick cemetery chapel in Saravia (E. B. Magalona), Negros Occidental

Compared with the elaborate cemetery chapels of Iloilo like in Cabatuan, Saravia’s cemetery chapel (the municipality was renamed to E. B. Magalona, but people still use the old name) is a simple brick construction found at the back end of the cemetery square. It consists of a simple arched entrance and two side windows all with metal grills. Decorative elements are limited to the simple columns that tend to fade into the background.

The pediment is at the second level with a pair of columnar finials serving as base of an elaborate metal cross. The center, I presume, might have a bigger metal cross but is now supplanted with one made of wood. The overall vertical movement of the facade gives it height.

The interior is already renovated and the roofing replaced with galvanized iron sheets. At both side walls, modern niches were being constructed by carving out the walls.

The old cemetery chapel of Sarabia, Negros Occidental

Sandwiched between the cities of Victorias and Silay in Negros Occidental is the town of Saravia (now known as E. B. Magalona, after a senator who hails from this place). The church is a modern construction but one notable structure that readily caught my attention is its Spanish colonial era cemetery, a legacy of the Augustinian Recollects who took charge of the spiritual administration of this municipality and island.

The old cemetery isn’t hard to miss as it’s just along the national highway but I wasn’t expecting this one that I nearly passed it unnoticed as the bus sped its way. But really, I’m impressed. It is still complete: a cemetery chapel built at the backside with two levels of niches spanning the length of the back in line with the facade. A newer level of niches was then added. At its entrance, the cemetery arch still exist with its perimeter fence and beautiful iron grills. The structures are built with mortar and bricks.

The Spanish colonial era cemetery entrance in Roxas City is elegant and one of the most beautiful in the country

The first time I saw this cemetery entrance when I visited the Roxas City Catholic cemetery in Capiz, I was awed by its elegance and size. It is huge compared with the others that I have seen to date. While the one in Janiuay in Iloilo is considered the grandest with three gates atop a flight of stairs and a series of wrought iron grills, this one tops them all as far as beautiful gates are concerned.

The cemetery entrance used to be a covered structure, similar to the simple one in Duero, Bohol, but with only the facade and two pillars remaining. It has three portals with the center bigger than the two flanking it. Atop the center portal is a bas relief of a cross with rays and a series of discs surrounding it while two blind occuli sit beside it and are above the two side portals.

The structure is topped with a triangular pediment with an empty central niche flanked with floral bas reliefs and this is supported with decorative columns with corinthian capitals. I’m not really so sure about the purpose of this structure and why it is covered. From the front, one can see the beautiful cemetery chapel at the center.

The old and beautiful chapel in the middle of the cemetery

At the old Catholic cemetery or camposanto in Roxas City is a beautiful antique structure with an elegant entrance that dates back to the Spanish colonial era. The octagonal cemetery chapel, built at the center, was constructed by the Augustinian Fray Apolinar Alvarez (died 2 May 1885) who was parish priest of the town formerly known as Capiz. No specific dates were given from my source, Pedro Galende’s Angels in Stone. The friar was also credited with building the present Roxas City cathedral in 1870.

The structure, made from cut coral stones, has a single entrance. It’s facade has simple bas reliefs and decorative columns. Curiously, I haven’t found any skull and crossbones motif like in Cabatuan or contextual inscriptions like in Oton, both in Iloilo. At the sides and back, several niches have been built with most are used. The roof is in the form of an elongated dome topped by a finial with parts of it overgrown with vegetation.

Upon entering, several more niches are found, all modern. A columned altar topped with a triangular pediment can be found at the opposite end of the entrance. I’m not sure if this was built concurrently with the chapel but the architectural style echoes that of the cemetery entrance. One thing that really caught my attention was how thick the walls are, exceeding a meter in length.

Facade of the entrance arch and gate with columns, finials and skull and cross bones bas relief

While on my way to take a photo of Dumalag Church in Capiz, I was able to pass by the beautiful camposanto or cemetery located at the south of the present church and along the highway. What made this a discovery was that, it is the third circular cemetery that I’ve seen, rather rare in the Philippines, bounded by a wall made from cut stone, an entrance gate with arch and a ruined chapel at the other end. Other circular cemeteries are Paco in Manila and Nagcarlan in Laguna.

Located at a plain and surrounded by rice fields, the structure was built by Fray Angel Abasalo, an Augustinian who served as the parish priest of the town from 1866-1881. He was also the one who constructed (or reconstructed) the current church. The entrance gate with arch, unfortunately is fronted by a waiting shed just a few feet that hinders a good view of the facade. The entrance is flanked by two columns, two finials atop this column and a pediment with a bas relief of a skull and crossbones at the center.

Inside, niches are built into the circular walls and a modern chapel at the center. At the opposite end of the gate is the original chapel, now in ruins. The facade is very simple topped with a triangular pediment. The walls and facade, by the way is coated with cement.