MARAHUYO: THE MAIN ISLANDS

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Luzon

Luzon, the Philippines' largest island, is home to Quezon City and Manila, the capital. Surrounded by the South China Sea, Sibuyan Sea, and Philippine Sea, it is the northern region of the archipelago. Luzon leads in agriculture and industry, with a central plain for grain production and breathtaking rice terraces. The Bondoc and Bicol peninsulas have coconut plantations, while mining produces copper, gold, manganese, and iron. Forest regions produce high-quality hardwoods.


Heritage Sites that you might see in Luzon:


VIGAN CITY

Founded in the sixteenth century, Vigan is the best preserved example of a planned Spanish colonial town in Asia. Its architecture is a reflection of the blending of European and Mexican cultural components with those from China and other parts of the Philippines to produce a distinct townscape and culture that is unmatched in East and Southeast Asia.


FORT SANTIAGO

 Fort Santiago, Manila's oldest fortification, was built by Spaniards in 1571. Despite being destroyed in 1574, it served as a headquarters and prison for Spanish, British, American, and Japanese occupation forces. 


CASA MANILA

Casa Manila, a living museum, showcases the lifestyle of a wealthy Filipino family during the late Spanish colonial period, featuring a 19th-century Manila house with European and Chinese furnishings. 



Visayas

The Visayan Islands, located in the northeasternmost point of the Sulu Sea, are a major geographic division of Mindanao, Philippines. The islands are primarily composed of islands encircling the Visayan Sea, with the majority of the population being Visayan. The islands include towns like Panay, Negros, Cebu, Bohol, Leyte, and Samar, as well as provinces like Palawan, Romblon, and Masbate. They comprise three administrative regions.


Heritage Sites that you might see in Visayas:


MAGELLAN'S CROSS

Ferdinand Magellan, the first European to visit the Philippines in 1521, baptized Rajah Humabon and planted a cross in Cebu to promote Christianity. The original cross was encased in tindalo wood, but a replica is now displayed in Cebu's city hall.


 

FORT SAN PEDRO

Fort San Pedro, named after Miguel Lopez de Legazpi's flagship, was built by Spanish and Cebuano laborers in 1565, eleven days after their arrival in Cebu.


BACLAYON CHURCH

The Church of Immaculate Conception, also known as the Baclayon Church, was built in 1717 by Jesuit priests Juan Torres and Gabriel Sanchez in Baclayon, Bohol. It was the earliest Christian settlement and was extended in the 19th century. However, it suffered significant damage in 2013 due to an earthquake.


Mindanao

Mindanao, the second largest island in the Philippines, is surrounded by the Bohol, Philippine, Celebes, and Sulu seas. Its irregular shape is 324 miles east to west and 293 miles north to south, with peninsulas and indented by Iligan Bay, Davao and Moro gulfs, Cotabato and Surigao peninsulas, and Zamboanga Peninsula. Historically, Mindanao was home to most Muslims in the predominantly Roman Catholic Philippines, preserving Islamic culture through mosques and distinctive daggers.


Heritage Sites that you might see in Mindanao:



FORT ASTURIAS

Among the notable remnants of the Spanish conquest of Jolo is the Fort of the Princess of Asturias. When the Spanish soldiers left the island in 1899, this building—which was constructed in honor of the Princess of Spain—was transformed into a U.S. military headquarters.



FORT PILAR 

The Real Fuerte de Nuestra Señora del Pilar de Zaragoza ( Royal Fort of Our Lady of the Pillar of Saragossa), also Fort Pilar, is a 17th-century military defense fortress built by the Spanish colonial government in Zamboanga City. The fort, which is now a regional museum of the National Museum of the Philippines, is a major landmark of the city and it symbolizes the cultural heritage.



CAPE OF SAN AGUSTIN

Cape San Agustin is the most southeasterly point in the Philippines. During the Spanish colonial era, the "Provincia de Caraga, 1609," which extends from the northern tip of the cap to the southern tip of the cap, was seen as a crucial strategic navigational demarcation. During World War II, the American and Japanese armies both possessed radar sites close to the Cape, making the area strategically significant to them. A popular hunting spot was Cape San Agustin.

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