Culture in Pampanga

Culture

Pottery wheel workshop in Sto. Tomas

Make your own clay pot at the wheel with a Sto. Tomas potter, from PHP 300 including a kilo of clay.

Santo Tomas₱

Attractions

Chapel of the Holy Guardian Angel

Holy Angel University's white contemporary chapel, home to an 1830 image of the Guardian Angel commissioned by the city's founder.

Angeles

Attractions

Museum of Philippine Arts and Culture (MOPAC)

Private museum of Philippine art, religious artefacts and culture on MacArthur Highway, open 10am to 5pm except Mondays.

San Fernando

Attractions

Metropolitan Cathedral of San Fernando

Seat of the Archdiocese of San Fernando, founded in 1754, burned in 1899 and 1939 and rebuilt by architect Fernando Ocampo.

San Fernando

Facade of the Santa Catalina de Alejandria Church in Porac

Attractions

Santa Catalina de Alejandria Church, Porac

Porac's Baroque parish church from 1872, damaged in the war and restored in the 1980s, its belfry shortened by the 2019 earthquake.

Porac

Santa Catalina Parish Church in Arayat with its bell tower and churchyard

Attractions

Santa Catalina Parish Church, Arayat

Arayat's 1753 Renaissance-style church of Saint Catherine of Alexandria, 70 metres long, with an arcaded upper facade.

Arayat

Attractions

Santa Monica Parish Church, Mexico

Mexico's parish of Saint Monica, rebuilt in a modern style after the 1880 earthquake left only its old belfry standing.

Mexico

Attractions

Santa Lucia Parish Church, Sasmuan

Sasmuan's Baroque church of Saint Lucy, an Augustinian foundation of 1590 with a distinctive pineapple-shaped cupola.

Sasmuan

Attractions

Nuestra Señora de la Merced Parish Church, Candaba

Parish in Bahay Pare that serves Candaba's swampland barangays and keeps the venerated image of Apung de la Merced.

Candaba

Attractions

San Andres Apostol Parish Church, Candaba

Candaba's Spanish-era Baroque parish church, founded in 1575, once a grammar school and a refuge for Manila's friar students.

Candaba

Attractions

Crissot Memorial Bust, Bacolor

Bust of Juan Crisostomo Soto, Crissot, the Bacolor writer who launched the golden age of Kapampangan literature.

Bacolor

Attractions

Archdiocesan Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes, Cabetican

Marian pilgrimage shrine in Cabetican, Bacolor, half-buried by Pinatubo's lahar and still a centre of prayer and healing.

Bacolor

Attractions

Our Lady of Divine Grace Parish, Mabalacat

Mabalacat's town parish, where the choir keeps the old Pastorella tradition of Latin Christmas hymns.

Mabalacat

Facade of San Bartolome Parish Church in Magalang

Attractions

San Bartolome Parish Church, Magalang

Magalang's parish of Saint Bartholomew, moved to the present town in 1863 after the Parua River swept away the old settlement.

Magalang

Adventure

Banal a Bunduk, Magalang

Holy Mountain Way of the Cross on Mount Arayat's slope: 14 life-sized Stations along a 1.6 km trail to a 35-foot Risen Christ.

Magalang

Facade of the Santa Ana Parish Church in Santa Ana, Pampanga

Attractions

Santa Ana Parish Church, Pampanga

Baroque 1850s church of Saint Anne with a five-tiered belfry, a bone relic of the saint and an NHCP marker from 2013.

Santa Ana

Attractions

Santa Rita de Casia Parish Church

Single-nave church of Saint Rita of Cascia, built 1839 to 1868, which keeps a first-class relic of the saint shown every August 17.

Santa Rita

Attractions

Santa Monica Parish Church, Minalin

National Cultural Treasure with four unique capillas posas, twin hexagonal towers and a mural map dated 1619 in its convent.

Minalin

Facade of San Miguel Arcangel Parish Church in Masantol with its central bell tower

Attractions

San Miguel Arcangel Parish Church, Masantol

The last parish the Augustinians founded in Pampanga, erected in 1894, with a central bell tower and saints in canopied niches.

Masantol

Statue of President Diosdado Macapagal outside his museum in Lubao

Attractions

President Diosdado P. Macapagal Museum and Library

Interactive museum and library in San Nicolas 1st on the life and times of President Diosdado Macapagal, a native of Lubao.

Lubao

Facade of the Immaculate Conception Parish Church in Guagua

Attractions

Immaculate Conception Parish Church, Guagua

Guagua's 1772 parish church of the Immaculate Conception beside the town hall, with a main altar by Betis artist Willy Layug.

Guagua

Attractions

San Pedro Apostol Parish Church, Apalit

Apalit's 1883 neo-Renaissance church of Saint Peter, with trompe l'oeil ceilings and a relic of the apostle enthroned in 2017.

Apalit

Attractions

Pampanga Pottery and Agritourism Park

Working pottery studio and farm park in Sto. Tomas with factory tours, wheel workshops, pot painting and a showroom, open daily 8am to 5pm.

Santo Tomas₱

Nuestra Señora del Pilar Parish Church and its bell tower in San Simon

Attractions

Nuestra Señora del Pilar Parish Church, San Simon

San Simon's parish of Our Lady of the Pillar, founded in 1771, burned in 1898 and rebuilt by local families in 1979.

San Simon