M1305: Paco Cemetery Postcard

Postcard Size: 4"x5.5"
Postcard Type: View card
Printed by: JMC Press, Inc., Quezon City
Purchased at Goodwill Bookstore

The postcard shows the oval mortuary chapel dedicated to St. Pancratius inside Paco Park. Also seen in the postcard is a raised fountain which aligns with the gate and the nave of the domed chapel. In the evening, the fountain is lit by multi-colored lights, creating a dancing rainbow.

Pancratius (or Pancras) was one of the early Christian martyrs from around 300 A.D. Legend says he was an orphan who was killed at the age of fourteen for embracing the faith. He is considered the patron of children, against false witness, and headaches. His feast day is celebrated on May 12th.

The back of the postcard reads:

Paco Cemetery, located in Manila, Philippines.
One of the oldest cemeteries of the Spanish colonial era.

M1305: Paco Cemetery Postcard

Paco Park, located where Padre Faura and General Luna Streets come together, was once a municipal cemetery for the elite families of Manila during the Spanish era. The cemetery was built in the late 1700s but was completed several decades later. It was also used to inter the victims of the cholera epidemic of 1822.

The cemetery is circular in shape, with an inner circular fort that was the original cemetery and with the niches that were placed or located within the hollow walls. As the population continued to grow, a second outer wall was built with the thick adobe walls were hollowed as niches and the top of the walls were made into pathways for promenades.
The cemetery was once the burial place of some notables including the national hero, José Rizal, and the three martyred priests of the Philippine independence movement. Today, the Spanish Governor-General Solano is the only known luminary still buried in the chapel.

Internment was stopped in 1912 and it was restored and transformed into a national park in 1966.
SOURCES:
Paco Park Wikipedia Entry
Paco Cemetery Park, Manila - Oasis in Stone
Visiting Paco Park

M1302: Watch Tower Postcard

Postcard Size: 4"x5.5"
Postcard Type: View card
Printed by: JMC Press, Inc., Quezon City
Purchased at Goodwill Bookstore

The postcard shows the circular garita or sentry box of Bastion de San Andres in Intramuros.

The back of the postcard reads:
Watch tower in Intramuros located in the City of Manila.
Intramuros is sometimes called the "walled city," built during the Spanish colonization of the Islands.

M1302: Watch Tower Postcard

RELATED ENTRY:
M1136: Walls of Intramuros Postcard

M1300: Luneta Lagoon Postcard

Postcard Size: 4"x5.5"
Postcard Type: View card
Printed by: JMC Press, Inc., Quezon City
Purchased at Goodwill Bookstore

The postcard shows the multi-colored fountains in Luneta in late afternoon, probably with the famous Manila sunset in the horizon. You will also see the Rizal Monument in the background.

The back of the postcard reads:
Luneta Lagoon, with its gushing multi-colored fountains.
Located in the City of Manila, Philippines

M1300: Luneta Lagoon Postcard

RELATED ENTRIES:
M32: Luneta Lagoon Postcard
M31: Rizal Monument Postcard

M1202: Sampaloc Lake Postcard

Postcard Size: 4"x5.5"
Postcard Type: View card
Printed by: JMC Press, Inc., Quezon City
Purchased at Goodwill Bookstore

The postcard shows Sampaloc Lake with the famous Mt. Banahaw in the background. The lake, an inactive volcanic maar, is the largest of the Seven Lakes of San Pablo, Laguna. Nearly half of the lake's depth has a shallow depression at the lake's bottom, indicating its volcanic origin.

The lake has an area of 104.0 hectares with a maximum depth of 27.0 meters, approximately 85% of its volume below 10 meters and 15% below 24 meters.

The back of the postcard reads:

Sampaloc Lake
Laguna, Philippines
This lake, rich in legend, surrounds Mt. Banahaw seen in the background.

M1202: Sampaloc Lake Postcard

Legend tells of a giant Tamarind (Sampaloc) tree in the garden of a selfish, stingy old woman who drove away a fairy disguised as an old man asking for some fruit as a cure for his ailing grandson. Instead of helping him, the stingy old woman had him driven away by her ferocious dogs. The old man was badly hurt. After the old man left, there was a thundering noise, rain, followed by the cracking of the earth. And then, the entire orchard sank into a colossal pit which was immediately filled with water. Henceforth, the villagers called it Lake Sampaloc.

SOURCES:
Lake Sampaloc Wikipedia Entry
San Pablo City: Sampaloc Lake

M1201: Fuente Osmena Park Postcard

Postcard Size: 4"x5.5"
Postcard Type: View card
Printed by: JMC Press, Inc., Quezon City
Purchased at Goodwill Bookstore

In the heart of uptown Cebu City is a rotunda park with a picturesque fountain in the center. This is the famous Fuente Osmeña Circle. Fuente Osmeña, or literally “Osmeña Fountain,” was named after the Cebu's Grand Old Man, President Sergio S. Osmeña, Sr., who happened to be the second president of Philippine Commonwealth.

The rotunda, which principally features the Osmeña fountain, is said to have been built during the inauguration of the City’s water system. Inside the Fuente Osmeña Circle is a big fountain and around it is a skating rink enclosed in a metal fence.

The back of the postcard reads:
Osmeña Park, Cebu City, Philippines

M1201: Fuente Osmeña Park Postcard

SOURCES:
Fuente Osmeña, Cebu City History
The Fuente Osmeña Circle