Thursday, November 11, 2010

The Ruined Mansion of Bacolod

From the Land of Smiles in my previous post to the City of Smiles in this post. This will be the very first time that someone else’s travel is featured on this blog. But she is no stranger in this blog having been featured here. She recently went to Bacolod City to witness the Masskara Festival and had side trips around the City. And here is her story:

When our plane landed in Bacolod, there was only one thing that we were looking forward to, and that is to witness the famous Masskara Festival and be part of the vibrant and lively event. Little did we know that we are going to experience more than that – we also experienced a little bit of history and a little bit of drama.

Tall weeds and grasses greeted us as we traversed our way to our destination giving us no sign of a tourist attraction but then, there it was. As ironic as it sounds, we saw the beauty of The Ruins.

I am not really fond of history but I was mesmerized as I listened to the tour guide telling us about the story of the burnt mansion while walking through what used to be the hallways and corridors of the ancestral house. The aura was nostalgic. The surroundings were scenic and everything was picturesque.

The Ruins was owned by Don Mariano Ledesma Lacson, one of the richest sugar barons in the island of Negros Occidental. According to the tour guide, it was a gift of Don Mariano to his beloved wife, Maria Braga. The mansion even had Maria Braga’s initials carved in the walls, perhaps to preserve the memory of the baron’s ultimate love for his Portuguese wife. The mansion served as the Lacson family’s safe haven for several years until the World War II. The family, along with the Filipino guerillas, chose to burn down the mansion so that it will not be used by the Japanese soldiers as headquarters.

And that was how The Ruins came about. From a family haven to a tourist site – the mansion has had a very colorful history of being a gift of love to being a sacrifice for the sake of patriotism. It was indeed a magnificent sight, and of course, we took every chance that we had to take pictures and preserve the imagery in our memories.

However, if there is one thing that I do not like about The Ruins, it is the fact that it has become commercialized. Some parts of the mansion have undergone renovation and that resulted to transformation from being a relic to just being ordinary. Some people find it nice that the burnt mansion can also be a venue for events such as weddings and birthday parties but I just thought it would have been nicer if the place was just kept as a must-see attraction and not as a venue for occasions. But nevertheless, it was a great part of our trip to the City of Smiles. Walking through the mansion and having wonderful pictures taken as souvenirs certainly brought smiles to our faces – even without a masskara.

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26 comments:

  1. Nice photos Lawstude... syang yung mansion at hindi na nagagamit...

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  2. Terrific photo and now I'll check out her story! Thanks for sharing! Hope you've had a great week with a wonderful weekend coming up!

    Sylvia

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  3. ako taga-Bacolod but i've never been to this place.:p when i see the photos, i would make a mental note to visit when i go home, pero kapag nasa Bacolod na ako, nakakalimutan ko lagi. food trip ang inaatupag ko kasi (hehe).

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  4. The Ruins is fast-becoming a tourist site and must-see in Bacolod. I always thought that sunset is the best time to visit it.

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  5. I regret that I didn't pay attention to visit there. I agree with the earlier comment that it must be better to visit it in time for the sunset.

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  6. Hi Lawstude! Fabulous ruins!! And the pictures are excellent!!
    Great job!

    Blogtrotter Two has moved to a new country and actually to the most populated city in Africa. Enjoy and have a great weekend!

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  7. I can visualize that the mansion looked very elegant and beautiful during its hey day.

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  8. how many hrs kaya from the city ang pagpunta dito? will take note of this in our IT. :)

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  9. although it kinda looks like one, pero feeling ko hindi siya pwede gawing haunted house.

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  10. ang ganda ng structure to thing na na ruin na ng panahon what more kung na restore pa nila yan sayang lang.

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  11. After the VBS in Iloilo, I plan to tour Bacolod, my return ticket na sana ako. Eto tlga pakay ko. Ganada din ng night shot neto. Sayang nga lng I'll have to cancel Bacolod due to a more important cause. Maybe nxt time, but thanx to ur friend for sharing the beautiful captures! :)

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  12. this is such a big draw to me. i love ruins and this is one pretty ruin.


    who's the guest writer/blogger?

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  13. me nakita akong phot nito na me parang lake or artifial body of water sa side. totoo ba yun o edited lang?

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  14. I really wanted to go there 2 years ago during my trio to bacolod! Had i had enough time, i would have gone!

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  15. this ruin is a great reminder Bacolod's gilded age.

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  16. great photos kuya oman! if you remember nagpost din ako ng entry tungkol dito nung 2008. good thing napuntahan to ng kapatid mo kasi it's worth visiting saka malapit lang from the city.

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  17. The first time I saw photos from this place was when a friend visited Bacolod just this year. Wow, worth visiting ito the next time na magpunta ng Bacolod. Ang ganda. :)

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  18. astig! last time wala pang tourist guide. lapit lang nito sa bahay ng tita ko. definitely one of the most visited spot in bacolod these days.

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  19. eto ang na-miss ko when i traveled negros occ.
    haaay, should get back there!

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  20. nice! thanks for the heads up, hope to visit Bacolod very soon.

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  21. Ang ganda nga ng place. Hope to visit this one time.

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  22. Nice story to go along with the nice photos from your guest writer. Pwede rin ba ko mag-guest?

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  23. Hi Lawstude! Everything ok?
    Blogtrotter Two is waiting for you to answer the legendary question: «What is the creature that walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon and three in the evening?»
    Enjoy and have a great Sunday!

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  24. I'm also from the province but never been to this to this historic landmark. good coverage bro.

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  25. great pics dude...enjoyed reading the post as well :)

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  26. I always like old houses, sana nagkaroon kami ng ganyang bahay hehe. Sir paexchange links po http://whatsup-raffy.blogspot.com/ naadd ko na po kayo sa site ko, Merry Christmas!

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