Sneaking-in at Nagcarlan Church

Facade of Nagcarlan Church

For almost five months of this year, I was stationed at Calamba, Laguna to further my knowledge about public service.  Towards the end of my schooling, classes schedule were loose, weekends were free and I found time to roam and discover the beauty of the nearby places. So here are some stories of my wandering.  

Got a classmate from Nagcarlan, Laguna and she been telling me about the beauty of her town. So one boring Saturday morning while having a cup of coffee with a friend at Starbucks-SM Calamba, I kept hearing the call for passenger to Nagcarlan. That day, we planned to find books for our book reports, roam around the mall for bargains and have a food trip since foods being served in the institute are not always appealing to our palette. “Tara sa Nagcarlan!” I told my friend. Which he immediately agreed. Only armed with the stories of our classmate, we hop in a van, paid Php 80.00 each  without knowing how far it was. 

I have this thing with churches, especially when its old. I may attribute this of being from a devout Catholic family. (Our family own a life size statue of St. Peter which we joined in procession along with other saints during the holy week celebration of our town.) 

I been to several churches in the country. To date, St. Bartolomew Parish Church of Nagcarlan, Laguna is my favorite. 

Me infront of St Bartolomew Church of Nagcarlan, Laguna

 After 2.5 -hr trip from Calamba (traffic po sa Los Baños), we arrived in Nagcarlan at high noon. Never thought this unplanned visit would be an adventure.

Famished as we are (We only had coffee and bread before the trip.), we took a quick lunch at Elads, situated right at the steps of the side entrance of the church complex.  We hurriedly finished our food. (Pass ako sa mukhang masarap na halo-halo na nasa kabilang table. Excited na kasi akong mag-explore.)

will try their halo-halo next time

My companion and I had a hard time entering the church. Its closed. Luckily there were children playing outside and guided us to a door and a staircase which led to the church's 2nd floor area that adjoined the priest quarter and the choir area.

Ang pintuan!

The stairs. Kuha mula sa 2nd floor.

Ang lugar na nagdudugtong

Passing through, we'd seen the other statues placed in one room where a standee of Pope Francis is also situated. (Di ko na pinalampas, pagkakataon na makapagpapicture!) I suspected it was the prayer room of the parish priest. There were two more rooms beside it, but I refrain myself from taking pictures. Mukha na kasi siyang private area ng parish priest. 

Prayer room?

pagkakataon :-) 

paakyat sa choir area

picture muna

At the other side of the choir area, there's a passage that has stairs to the church's bells which are situated four more stories high. Going up and down the stairs were challenging. Umuuga at may ibang steps na marupok na. Even the railings, binubukbok na. By the way, the church has 7 bells, six small bells and one big bell situated at the center of the top most level of the bell tower. (Siyempre hindi ko din pinalampas ang pagkakataon maexplore. Bonus pa ang magandang skyline ng bayan.) 

ang tunnel

Ang mga hagdan ng bell tower

 

bells of St Bartolomew Church

sign of authenticity na luma na siya

1842? Kakalungkot lang may ilang di marunong rumespeto.

Ang bigat nya!

 goofing at the bell tower

front lawn of the church

view from the top

After almost an hour up at the bell tower (matagal at hinanap pa namin ang magandang agulo namin sa pictures), we decided to explore the church. It felt creepy exploring the structure when most of its lights are closed. But the limited lighting did not hide the beauty of the church.

from the choir area

 We tried going down the swirling staircase but it has a gate that was locked at the first floor. At that time, the side door of the church was already open and there were matrons inside the church praying. They were shock to see us trying to go down the stairs. (Sorry po. Naghahabol kami ng oras at may iba pa kaming pupuntahan.) 

sarado pala

 So we go back to where we entered and used the now open side door of the church to enter the main prayer area. A man, I guessed he is one of the church marshal, followed us as we checked the rest of the church. (Gusto ko ng sabihing huwag siyang mag-alala at di kami magnanakaw. Curious wanderer lang.) Anyway, I prayed (I hope my prayers will be answered soon) and felt peace inside the church.

the side door

altar

view mula sa altar

modern yet simple

choir area

Amazed ako dito. Di ko lang alam tawag.

Wish kong makapagserve dito kahit isang beses lang.

The church exterior is equally magnificent as its interior with its baroque style. 

picture not mine. di ko mahanap driver ng sasakyan para maalis.

bell tower

right side portion of the church exterion

Grotto ng Mahal na Birheng Maria

Researching about it after our visit, I found out it was the location of the teleserye “Kampanerang Kuba”. Next time, I hope I can ring its bells like Anne Curtis and locate the "Jewel of Nagcarlan" or the rumored underground tunnel from beneath the altar of the church to the underground cemetery complex. 

By the way, we were travelling with our smart phone only.

Few bits of history

St. Bartholomew Parish Church ("Nagcarlang Church") in Nagcarlan, Laguna was first built in 1583 of light materials by then resident priest Rev. Tomas de Miranda. In 1752, the second church was built using bricks and stones but the church was partly destroyed by a fire in 1781. In 1845, the church was reconstructed and a choir loft was added by Rev. Vicente Velloc, who also built the Nagcarlan Underground Cemetery. (wikipedia)