Thursday, October 24, 2013

A Glimpse of Silay City - "The Paris of the Orient" and "Museum City"

We arrived at Bacolod-Silay Airport around 6:45am. First stop was the tourism booth, where we got the Silay City Heritage tour map. Thanks to this friendly policeman who gave me the map.



We walked up to the airport gate and hopped on a tricycle going to Silay City. Get refreshed by the greenery you'll see along the way.Yup, sugarcane plantation and lots of it :) Known for its "haciendas", Silay is indeed the forefront of sugar production. It has been told that European performers would visit Silay and its known for lavish parties back in Spanish era. This coined the term, "The Paris of the Orient" by chroniclers.

We dropped off right in front of the public plaza which is  right across the San Diego Cathedral.

San Diego Cathedral


Here's a sample map I got from the internet. 


The map that we got from the tourism booth was more detailed wherein you can find 26 ancestral houses. Three of these namely, The Balay Negrense (Don Victor Ancestral House), Don Bernardino Jalandoni Ancestral House and Manuel Hofilena Heritage House were converted into Museums. 


As of today there are 29 surviving ancestral houses. No wonder Silay was dubbed as "Museum City" by travel writers.



It was around 7am when we started our tour, as expected the ancestral houses were still closed for public. No worries, the walking part itself was a delight plus the sight of an entire neighborhood of ancestral houses that you'll pass by was amazing. Its as if you're back in time when everyone's wearing "barong at saya".



These are some of the ancestral houses that we passed by.


Manuel HofileƱa Ancestral House

The Balay Negrense
Cinco de Noviembre Monument


Green: Jose Ledesma Ancestral House
and Sen. Jose Corteza Locsin Ancestral House

To cap our Silay City Tour,we ate at El Ideal known for its Ilonggo Delicacies. We didn't missed to try their tasty Molo Soup and Gwapple pie before heading to The Ruins, located in Talisay City, Negros Occidental.

Here's my entry for our itinerary and list of expenses By Air, Land and Sea: Bacolod-Siquijor Getaway




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