Revisiting Taal's Heritage Town

The first time I visited Taal Heritage Town was about 12 or 13 years ago when we toured some American guests. And honestly, I barely remember anything (memory lapse...tsk...tsk). The only thing that I clearly recall was buying a jusi barong material for my Dad in Taal and a pen knife from Barangay Balisong! Haha...

Over the weekend, we went to visit the Taal Heritage Town. It was like seeing Taal for the first time. Like what others say, it is so much similar to Vigan – lots of old houses – however, it is yet to be declared a World Heritage site.

Here are some sites to visit while in Taal:

Basilica of St Martin de Tours – the biggest Catholic Church in Asia. I never knew that the biggest church in Asia was right here in the Philippines until we were planning for this trip! Based on some websites which I visited, the church is said to have been built in 1575, destroyed by volcanic eruption in 1754 and rebuilt in 1856. Massive facade! It's comparable to some of the churches we've visited in Europe.

Shrine of Our Lady of Caysasay. Our Lady of Caysasay is a miraculous, little wooden statue of the Immaculate Conception (about 6 inches) which was found in small river in Taal in 1603. It was caught by a fisherman in his net one day while fishing. When it was housed then, the statue is said to come and go until a chapel was built around the area where it was last found. (The story and statue reminded me of Our Lady of Monserrat, also known as Black Madonna, in Spain.) There's also a nearby well said to have miraculous waters but we didn't go all the way to the well as the parish volunteers mentioned that the taps outside the church draw out water from the well. BTW, from the Basilica, you can actually reach the shrine of Our Lady of Caysasay by foot – 125 steps down. We didn't take that route though – that's 125 steps going up as well so we just brought the car. Haha...

Casa Agoncillo – Marcela Agoncillo's ancestral house. Agoncillo, if you remember from our History class, was the one who sewed the first Philippine flag used during the declaration of independence on June 12, 1898. Nice, old house.

Casa Apacible – it's another bahay na bato turned museum. Too bad, it was closed for lunch break when we passed by.

Taal Public Market – if you want to buy some jusi barong material, embroidered stuff such as table clothes, runners, pouches, etc. (This is probably where I bought the jusi material for my Dad years ago!) There are also lots of wedding gowns.

Taal Bistro Cafe – if you're looking for a place to have lunch. I actually read about it from another blog. It's located across the public market. We tried the Tapang Taal, ensaladong talong and mangga, pinakbet and calamares.

BTW, here's how to get to Taal Town: Take the usual route going to Tagaytay (SLEX Sta Rosa exit). Just before you reach Nasugbu, there's a road on your left going to Lemery/Tuy, so make a left turn there. It's a long , zigzag road. Along the way, you'll pass by Canyon Woods, Leisure Farm, Fantasyland, etc. There are also some directional signages going to the Taal Heritage Town so you don't have to worry about missing it. Once you approach Taal, you'll hit a dead end where you either have to turn left or right. Turning left would lead you to the churches and old houses. Turning right would lead you to the Public Market. It 's about a 3-hour trip from Manila.