After visiting the People’s Park in the Sky, I wanted to do something different this time. I have been to other parts of the Tagaytay and I could say that I’m already quite familiar with them. This is discounting the new restaurants that have sprouted over the years. Tagaytay is famous for its views of the Taal Volcano with the ridge overlooking Taal Lake and the volcano itself. I have seen this view countless number of times so it was time for something different.
From the People’s Park in the Sky the jeepney brought me to the Tagaytay market area where their major jeepney terminal was. This was a major terminal and a lot of jeepneys go all over the place from here. One of the jeepneys goes to the town of Talisay, which was down the mountain. I wanted to get a closer view of the Taal Volcano this time from the level of the lake.
As expected the jeepney took forever to fill up, it seems that there are not a lot of people who go to Talisay from Tagaytay. We waited a full hour to fill up the jeepney which was not even filled up to the brim since there were ample seats left. The driver asked the passengers whether we can leave now and pay more but pay a cheaper fare but wait for more passengers. Most of the passengers agreed to pay the higher fare of 50 pesos. It took us quite a while to navigate the sometimes steep road going down the mountain. It was a zigzag pattern of seeing mountains then Taal Lake as we went down the mountain. I had no idea that the town was that far.
At the town I asked to be dropped off at one of their major landmarks – the church of course. Like any other decent Philippine town, Talisay has its own church and this is where everything happens. This church is just a short walk off the main road. From here, I learned that the town of Talisay is not really that old as far a Philippine towns are concerned, as it was established in the year 1866. This church is dedicated to the San Guillermo or Saint William. Although the parish itself was established in 1874, this structure was only built in the 1970s. This probably isn’t the original church and it is very possible that the nearby volcano had something to do with it.
Unlike typical Spanish era churches, this church has a more modern feel, however the interiors of the church had some faux three dimensional designs reminiscent of 16th century Spanish churches. Altar area is an impressive structure with figures of the saints and, of course, Jesus. The stained glass windows bring an air of elegance into the church itself. The church itself is located on top of a small elevation in the town, giving it a nice little elevated view of the town.
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