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The Ruins of Talisay: Taj Mahal of Negros



Last year, Ayana Grace, my eldest daughter, had an opportunity of going on a business trip to India. When she came back she posted very nice shots of the Taj Mahal with stories on how she took efforts at visiting the place— Agra, Uttar Pradesh in India. A white marble mausoleum, the Taj Mahal was built by Mughal emperor Shah Japan in memory of his 3rd wife. I envy her for having visited the place, being one of the wonders of the world.

Well, this post is not about the Taj Mahal of India. As the title says, I'm featuring The Ruins of Talisay, the counterpart of Taj Mahal in Negros Occidental. Late post, this is... 

I got to see this beautiful attraction for the first time in the pilot episode of the teleserye (television soap opera) entitled, "Ikaw Lamang", where the scenes were shot in Talisay, Negros Occidental. It was an amazing surprise for me to know that such a beautiful attraction existed in my very own province! I only came to know about this, years after it has been opened to the public in January 2008.  A former high school classmate shared the information in a Facebook comment he made after I posted a stanza of the lyrics of "Iliili," a famous Ilonggo lullaby, which was featured during the introductory episode of the teleserye. From then on, I dreamed of seeing the place. 

Well, my dream has finally turned into reality as I was blessed to see this historical grandeur twice. It's been three years since my first visit on the 17th of August 2016 with colleagues at work doing site visit of government hospitals in the cities of Iloilo and Bacolod. Here are photos of The Ruins on my first visit. 


Since we were on a business trip, we hurriedly took a side trip to see the place before the setting of the sun. As they say, one gets a beautiful view of a sunset from the window of the mansion. But we were not very fortunate to catch that picturesque view. The sun was hidden by the clouds and it was fast getting dark.
 We had to content ourselves with just taking shots of the mansion from different angles the moment we laid foot at its entrance.
Mesmerized by the structure from the side, everybody gradually advanced towards the front, while continuously clicking their cam.

   

 Here's the front view of the mansion. 



Me with the mansion at the background, of course!
How could I pass the chance. 
Outside, one can stroll around to relax.

Photo ops by the bridge

A wishing well?

The bell and the well
Behind the bell is a souvenir shop where one can buy pastries and other delicacies as pasalubong.
For the finale, here's my Instagrammable shot of the mansion, glowing in the dark.

I was so glad we stayed on to capture this magical view of The Ruins with its lights on! Seeing this, I silently prayed I could come back another day with my own family.

It was getting dark and we had yet to take a tour inside. This I will feature in a separate post. Click here to read more. See you there! 
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