Laguna’s Underground Cemetery: A historical landmark of culture and heritage
08 Apr 2012 

The Nagcarlan Underground Cemetery is a national heritage where history is preserved, you’ll get to appreciate every detail of it, its aged tombs, textured walls and ceilings, it is only one of its kind in the Philippines.

Our Visita Iglesia journey ends here at the “Pook Pangkasaysayan sa Ilalim ng Lupa ng Nagcarlan”, a 163-year-old cemetery where elite families of catholics and Franciscans were buried, built by Franciscan friars during the Spanish colonization, situated in the the boundary of Nagcarlan proper and Barangay Bambang, few meters away from St. Bartholomew Parish, declared as a national historical landmark by the National Historical Institute in 1978 because of its underground crypt which became a secret meeting place by Filipino revolutionaries or Katipuneros in 1896.

It has a 1-hectare sloping terrain with an 18-foot facade of the chapel used for funeral rites, comprised of 240 niches and 36 are located in the crypt which is 15ft. underground, designed by Fr. Vicente Velloc. The last interment were held in 1982.

The Underground Cemetery was maintained by the National Historical Institute with no entrance fees upon entering the graveyard, no taking photos for commercial use unless allowed by NUCHL, no use of flash when you’re inside the chapel and in the underground crypt and open on Tuesdays to Sundays (8am to 4pm). 

Learn more about the Underground Cemetery HERE by the lagunatravelguide.com. More photos courtesy of VerJube Photographics HERE.