Travel Back In Time With Las Casas Filipinas De Acuzar Part 2 – Inside The Casas

We’re back to our Las Casas Filipinas De Acuzar post. After almost an hour of waiting, our tour guide finally arrived! I just love how the resort remained very faithful with their theme. All the workers, whether the tour guide or any of their crews are wearing traditional Filipino clothing during the Spanish era.
Our tour guide giving us a quick introduction about the Las Casas Filipinas De Acuzar. The tour started around 10 and the tour begins with the La Puesta Del Sol. You can check the map below. The red trail are those areas we visited that is part of the tour.  There are many houses in Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar but not all of them were accessible for public viewing. Some are hotel rooms.Adjacent houses near the Estero De Binondo (these are houses facing the seaside). They are hotel rooms which are not part of the tour and they are not accessible for public viewing as well. You see that railing on the lower right? You can actually avail a train ride tour just in case you don’t prefer walking. Not sure with the rate though. 


After the brief introduction with the first set of casas (houses), we are guided to a brick bridge which is connected to two islets. The one on the left is where the Plaza Maria can be found (here you can find three different buildings, the Casa Gapan, Balanga and Irosin) and all of which can be occupied or be rented privately. We took the right route which takes us to Plaza Marcelino.Heading to Plaza MarcelinoOne of their La Ribera houses

La Ribera HousesAs what the title of these houses connotes, these houses are connected to small canal that comes from the Umangol River. So basically, there is some kind of Venice vibes here!The Plaza MarcelinoAt the basement of one of the La Ribera Houses. The porch connected to the canal. I think you can appreciate this place more if you availed their boat tour packages.Just look at this intricately designed Veranda!The fountain at Plaza Marcelino

Casa Hagonoy
The first house that we visited is the Casa Hagonoy. Interestingly, in observance with Filipino Tradition, everyone of us were encouraged to take off our shoes when entering each building. Much like in Japan, removing shoes before entering a home is a classic Filipino custom to pay respect to the house owner. The dining area at Casa HagonoyThe living room area at Casa Hagonoy. The Veranda or the terrace on the other hand will give you a great view of Santuario de San Jose church.We were told that not all the furniture in the casas were originally taken from the real house. Some of them were added to bring the house more alive and also to matches the theme.

Casa LubaoCasa Lubao is said to be one of the youngest houses in Las Casas. It was built in 1920 and was owned by  Arastia and Vitug families. The house served as  storage for rice and sugar, and became a Japanese garrison during World War II.  The fate of the house was saved during the World War when a Japanese colonel stopped his men from burning the house in gratitude for the kindness of the Arastia family who, unknowingly, hired him as a driver and gardener before the war.The balconyThe very detailed ceiling on the balcony area of Casa Lubao. It actually reminds me of that “Balcony of Sinners” in Aguinaldo Shrine in Cavite.The best thing I love about Casa Lubao is the ceiling and how intricate the details are. Granite table and rattan chairsOne of the bed rooms in Casa LubaoThe luxurious dining areaA stunning view from the window

Casa BiñanCasa Biñan is our third stop and the heavy rain forced us to stay in this place quite longer as expected. By the way, did you know that each Casa is named based on the place where they originated? Casa Biñan, for obvious reason, is a replica of a historically significant house from Laguna. It is also known as the Alberto House and is a replicated version of the house of Teodora Alonzo, the mother of Jose Rizal. Although a replica, some of the parts of the house like the doors, stairs and planks of woods were taken from the original ancestral house.And yes, another thing that makes this casa even more special is the fact that this is where the iconic scene from Heneral Luna were shot! His death scene in particular

Casa Quiapo
Casa Quiapo built in 1867 and owned by Don Rafael Enriquez, which was given to the University of the Philippines and became the first Fine Arts school from 1908 to 1926. This building is also known as Casa Hidalgo and if I heard it correctly from our tour guide, the house once cater sex shows and abortion services. Once you enter the Casa, you will be welcomed by this enigmatic hallway adorned with different portraits from different artist and huge chandeliers (ang lakas makaHarry Potter)The buildin features a lot of eerie displays and I don’t think I have enough courage to stay here overnight haha.

Just in case you’ve missed my previous entries, feel free to visit the links below

Travel Back In Time With Las Casas Filipinas De Acuzar Part 1
Travel Back In Time With Las Casas Filipinas De Acuzar Part 2
Travel Back In Time With Las Casas Filipinas De Acuzar Part 3