Date of visit: December 26, 2018
Just 20-25 minutes away from Bacolod City, lies a beautiful mansion in the midst of a sugarcane plantation… Years before even Temple of Leah was constructed.
The ancestral home mansion of the family of wealthy sugar baron Don Mariano Ledesma Lacson who built it in early 1900s, in memory of his Portuguese wife Maria Braga Lacson, who had died during the birth of her eleventh child. It was constructed on a 440-hectare plantation in Talisay City, Negros Occidental and burned down by the guerillas during the Second World War to prevent its use as military office by the invading Japanese forces. It burnt for 3 days down to its current empty cement shell.
As of December 26, 2018, below is rates for the entrance and fees (Rates are subject to change):
- Consumable (valid only in restaurants) – P300
- Adult – P100
- Senior Citizens/PWD – P70
- Students – P60
- Children (below 8 years old) – P20
There’s nothing really much about this empty shell, but once you listen to the tour guides, you’ll learn a lot about history especially what happened in Negros Occidental during this era.
What’s inside the mansion?
Once you are already inside the mansion, you have an option to go around or stick with the tour guide–you start here.
E or M? It’s an (e)M like Maria.
The exterior.
And of course, US–this visit is all about us. 😀
On getting there:
- GRAB, by far is the easiest, we paid P400 for a one-way ride.
- By public transportation:
- Take a Bata-Libertad jeepneys and ask the driver to drop you off at Pepsi Bottling Company.
- From Pepsi Bottling Company, you may hire a tricycle going to the mansion.
Right after the tour inside the mansion, on the other side is a very spacious place where weddings with a large crowd are being held.
Trip Notes:
- If you want to know about this mansion’s history, go with the group. Tour guide fees are included in your entrance fees. P.S. They do have an amazing tour guides!
- You can go around the area without the tour guide, but you’ll miss the story behind it.
- Take a lot of snaps and take your trash with you.
- Best time to go there is between the afternoon to dusk for you to see the changes of the mood.
Where to Eat?
After our The Ruins visit, we went to Rau Ram Cafe for a Vietnamese feels cuisine and had our dessert at Felicia’s Pastry Shop (just infront of Calea).
https://www.flickr.com/photos/delightgarrovillo/39676621593/in/album-72157699413741510/
