Cagsawa Ruins

View of Mayon Volcano and Cagsawa

View of Mayon Volcano and Cagsawa

I was happy to have made it to the Cagsawa Ruins. The place is on a road just off the national highway, in these areas, they don’t tend to be very big. Anyway, the Cagsawa Ruins are one of the most famous postcard sights of the Philippines. I think this is not exactly very well known outside the country. Perhaps a little more marketing needs to be done here. However, once one actually does come here how much can you do here? You look at the ruins and the volcano and that’s it. Enough of that, I have come here to appreciate the Cagsawa Ruins and I’m trying to make the most of this visit.

Belfry of Cagsawa Church

Belfry of Cagsawa Church

Perhaps you can say that the Cagsawa Ruins became well known because of the fact that it is no longer there. The town of Cagsawa is another one at the foot of the Mayon Volcano. The church was a very old one built in 1587. It wasn’t the first time the church was destroyed as it was reduced to rubble by invading Dutch. It was subsequently rebuilt and destroyed once again this time by Mayon Volcano in what was its most destructive eruption in recorded history. The eruption destroyed the main church building which happened to be sheltering some townsfolk. The belfry remains standing to this day as a reminder of the events of that day.

[xmlgm {http://www.worldwanderings.net/kml/CagsawaRuins.kmz} zoom=19]