Lahar heritage trail: Bacolor's sunken churches

Mount Pinatubo erupted in June 1991, but Bacolor's ordeal came in the years after, as rain carried ash and rock down as lahar. In 1995 the flows buried the town under as much as 20 feet of debris.

1. San Guillermo

Start at San Guillermo Parish Church, half-buried and still in use. Notice how low the facade looks: the ground rose around it. Ask whether the church museum is open.

2. The first landmark back

Find the Crissot Memorial Bust, the first landmark seen again after the 1995 lahar.

3. Cabetican

Drive to the Archdiocesan Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes in Cabetican, the other sunken church, still a centre of pilgrimage.

Visit thoughtfully

These are places of worship and of community memory. Dress modestly, avoid sightseeing during services and leave the disaster's story to the people who lived it; read our story Under the lahar first.