The Ruins, Talisay City's Homage to Love from a Bygone Era

When I was researching what to do in Bacolod, blogs about The Ruins kept popping up so I made sure my friend included it in the itinerary she gave me. It was our last stop coming back from a tour of Negros' finest and it was really sad that it was drizzling when we got there.

But anyway, The Ruins will just really take your breath away.

Built by the sugar baron  Don Mariano Ledesma Lacson for his first wife, Maria Braga (a Portuguese from Macau) in the early 1900s, the structure was made of Grade A cement (didn't even know there was such a thing) that allowed it to have the feel and endurance of marble. After all, most of the structure survived even after 3 days of torching. Don Marianos son Felipe oversaw the pouring of the cement and he got as many people as he could so that the pouring will continue nonstop until the structure was complete.

You need to pay P60 per person to enter the premises

really found it hard to take pictures using my broken DSLR with the light and rain, but the lawn and the garden was really just immaculately kept and maintained

that's a restaurant/cafe over there :)

no picture will do this place justice, really...

it was like being in a dream

and the intricacies of the design is just really awe-inspiring

notice that hole where plants are now growing? That area used to contain the wooden floors of the mansion, about a meter wide and 2-inch thick hard wood spanning the entrance of the structure up to the dining area

there's also an 18-hole mini golf course at the property, P50 per game

and a makeshift pub of sorts inside the structure, serving Negros beer

anyway, you'd really want to get married here!

after all, it was built from the love of this man for this woman, whom he lost

but it was being set up for a power dinner of sorts for the Negros' elite when we went there

One can really only wonder at the opulence sugar barons (and their families) enjoyed back in those days... and all the feasting that transpired in this magnificent home. But more importantly, this was built for the love of a wife and mother, and the fact that it has endured this long is testament to the infinite reach of a woman's influence.

P.S.
I cannot rteally give directions on how to go there because we hired a car for P1,500 for the day... and that car took us to places like Manapla and Victorias City and Silay first before bringing us back to Bacolod City. You can check out their website for instructions though == http://theruins.com.ph/