Location
Palermo
Start Date
26-6-2025 9:30 AM
End Date
26-6-2025 11:00 AM
Description
Paco Park, a peaceful modern-day recreational garden, is situated in the heart of Manila, Philippines. It was originally used as a municipal cemetery, primarily for the wealthy Spanish families during the colonial era. Then known as Cementerio Genreral de Dilao o simply Paco Cemetery, it was initially built by the Dominican friars in 1807 that became the burial ground for cholera-stricken victims during the 1820s. During the Spanish regime, a number of renowned Filipino heroes and personalities were interred at the Paco Cemetery at the onset, including the country’s national hero Dr. Jose Protacio Rizal and the three martyred priests popularly known as Gomburza. For more than fifty years, the cemetery became a silent witness to the nation’s turbulent history under the stifling grip of the Americans and Japanese. In 1966, it was transformed as a national park slowly transforming the site from a sacred and religious one into a place of historical importance.
This particular study is a preliminary attempt to reconstruct more than 200 years of the cemeteries and park’s existence within the context of Philippine culture and society while principally focusing on the changing nature of the sacred space into a historical place. This paper will be guided by the theory of nostalgia as its theoretical framework. Simply put, it is a sentimentality for the past (either positive or negative) that is typically for a period or place. This research paper shall utilize document analysis and related literature emanating from Spanish and American colonial periods. A thorough ocular inspection of the site will also be undertaken in order to draw out possible personal reflections on the matter.
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DOI
https://doi.org/10.21427/2sk2-8t98
Included in
B4) Transforming the Sacred Space into a Historical Place: The Case of Paco Cemetery in Manila, Philippines
Palermo
Paco Park, a peaceful modern-day recreational garden, is situated in the heart of Manila, Philippines. It was originally used as a municipal cemetery, primarily for the wealthy Spanish families during the colonial era. Then known as Cementerio Genreral de Dilao o simply Paco Cemetery, it was initially built by the Dominican friars in 1807 that became the burial ground for cholera-stricken victims during the 1820s. During the Spanish regime, a number of renowned Filipino heroes and personalities were interred at the Paco Cemetery at the onset, including the country’s national hero Dr. Jose Protacio Rizal and the three martyred priests popularly known as Gomburza. For more than fifty years, the cemetery became a silent witness to the nation’s turbulent history under the stifling grip of the Americans and Japanese. In 1966, it was transformed as a national park slowly transforming the site from a sacred and religious one into a place of historical importance.
This particular study is a preliminary attempt to reconstruct more than 200 years of the cemeteries and park’s existence within the context of Philippine culture and society while principally focusing on the changing nature of the sacred space into a historical place. This paper will be guided by the theory of nostalgia as its theoretical framework. Simply put, it is a sentimentality for the past (either positive or negative) that is typically for a period or place. This research paper shall utilize document analysis and related literature emanating from Spanish and American colonial periods. A thorough ocular inspection of the site will also be undertaken in order to draw out possible personal reflections on the matter.