Oton Gold Death Mask

Discovery of the Oton Gold Death Mask The Oton Gold Death Mask was discovered in situ on June 5, 1967, at Grave #6 in Mediavilla Property in San Antonio, Oton, Iloilo. The property was among the four areas systematically excavated by National Museum anthropologists, headed by Dr. Alfredo Esguerra Evangelista and Dr. Felipe Landa Jocano, … Read more

Calle Real Iloilo

Calle Real Iloilo  This photograph by Felix Laureano shows Iloilo’s Calle Real. Now J.M. Basa Street is the first Anglo-Chinese commercial area that emerged as a result of the booming sugar trade. It was lined with numerous bazaars, inns, cafes, and other establishments, and was the liveliest street in the city. Imported goods and merchandise … Read more

Eiffel Tower in Iloilo?

Eiffel Tower in Iloilo?  This is a photograph of Felix Laureano of Catedral de Jaro with a bamboo tower that was built to mark the Eiffel Tower’s inauguration during the 1889 Paris Exposition. The Cathedral is dedicated to Nuestra Señora de Candelaria. The church built before 1726 was damaged in an 1824 earthquake and was … Read more

Bullfighting in Iloilo

Bullfighting in Iloilo  During the mid-19th century under Spanish occupation in the Philippines, bullfighting, or corrida de toros, gained popularity as a form of entertainment among the Spanish elite and local elites who sought to emulate Spanish customs. The Spanish authorities promoted bullfighting as a symbol of Spanish culture and power, and it became a … Read more

Spanish Female Bullfighters in Iloilo

Spanish Female Bullfighters in Iloilo  A rare example of Felix Laureano’s Iloilo photo studio work (along Calle Iznart), Senoritas toreras de la cuadrilla del apodera de Armengol, is proof that Iloilo by the mid-19th century not only attracted European opera singers but also female bullfighters from Spain. Only Manila and Iloilo boasted of having bullrings … Read more