Aguinaldo Shrine (Part II)

Welcome back to the second part of our tour in this historic place in the Philippines. Last time we explored the first floor of the mansion. We went back in time to tell you about our history, showed you antique weapons, shared with you supernatural items, and personal effects of the President.

If you have missed it you can find the first part here
Return to the Mansion of Freedom • Aguinaldo Shrine

Today we will explore the second floor of the Aguinaldo Shrine. So spend a little time with us today and get ready to go back in time again with us.

The Second Floor of the Mansion

As you reach the second floor of the mansion, on the left side there is a long hallway. The rooms of his daughters are located in this area. Here you will see antique furniture and a lot of historical memories.

I always wonder about the story behind this table. Demons on the legs of furniture seem to be common in this era. There is also another table at the end of the hall that has a demon design on the legs. It is hard to explain as there is not much information online. I also tried to ask one of the staff about the table but also had no idea about the design.

Medical Supplies

Along this hallway is a hidden door with medical supplies. Antique medicine bottles that survived all these years. Some of the bottles still have medicine and chemical left inside.

Aguinaldo had his appendix removed and this still bottle contains the removed appendix. I am not sure if you would be doing that these days but back then they probably kept it as a souvenir from the operation.

The Rooms of the Daughters of Aguinaldo

Aguinaldo had three daughters named Christina, Maria and Carmen. As I was told that the furniture here comes from China, Europe and some are locally made. Antique furniture like these is rare and may cost a fortune now these days.

The first room in the hallway is Christina's room. There is a cordon on all the rooms, visitors are not allowed to go inside. Maybe they just clean it every other day to keep it shiny and free from dust.

This is the room of Maria and the size is very similar to Christina's room. The bed looks more luxurious in design and has intricate engravings. I wish I could take a closer look.

Next is the largest room in this hallway. You may think it is the master's bedroom due to its size. It even includes an Ah Tay matrimonial bed fit for the master of the house. Ah Tay is a famous Chinese furniture maker during this time. The poles, legs and headboard are intricately designed with carvings. They say that Carmen is the favorite daughter of Aguinaldo which is possible but I think otherwise. It happens that Carmen is the eldest daughter and since she is the eldest she gets to choose the room first and gets first. That is just my opinion though as I think fathers should equally love all their children.

The mirror on the corner is called "The Venetian Mirror". A mirror made in Italy and gold dust were used to create the mirror. It is has been said that the cost of the mirror is almost the same as one naval ship.

Across the rooms is the common toilet and bath. Most of the fixtures in the bathroom are still original but the toilet at the back looks to have been replaced already.

This area here is called the "Balcony of Sinners". Aguinaldo named this place as such because here is where they planned the revolt against Spain. Not only that courtships also took place here that led to marriage. A nice spot to proclaim your undying love don't you think?

The Room of the President

This house contains many secrets and this room has a lot of them. This is the master's bedroom and one of my favorite rooms in the mansion. Every corner of the room has beautiful furniture and detail. I love the small windows near the ceiling that has green-tinted glass. As the sun shines thru, it gives out a nostalgic glow.

One of the secrets here is a secret passageway behind the mirror. He used this to escape from his enemies multiple times which saved his life.

The Music Room

Aguinaldo loved music as we can see the mansion has its music room.

Not everyone has their radio back then and this was a luxury during this time. I am just not sure what type of music was played back then but I'm sure Jazz was not invented yet at this time. Visitors surely have enjoyed the music playing from this room.

The Main Living Area

To all of you antique lovers out there, this main living area would be a playground for you. With so much antique furniture and so much history behind them, you will be overwhelmed. Let me just leave you here for a while to enjoy this part of the house on your own. To enhance the experience of our tour. Please play the music below to take you back in time.

https://soundcloud.com/harry-james-official/its-been-a-long-long-time-2?in=jamie-n-552689052/sets/1900s-music
Source

This door leads to the iconic balcony where the Philippine flag was shown for the very first time. The crowd cheered and the flag was shown. Giving the Philippines an identity that echoes until this very day.

The Dining Hall

This is the main dining hall that has three large tables. During parties they had many guests and they had to ensure everyone is well seated.

The large round table in the middle has been cut from one tree and you could only imagine how gigantic that tree is. It could have lived for centuries or even like before the dinosaurs......maybe that's a little too much. 😆

The Kitchen

This is where all the delicious dishes are prepared for the family. Must be extremely busy during parties and not everyone knows that there is a secret in this kitchen. Underneath the large table, there is another hidden escape passageway. With all the secrets here it would be very difficult to capture Aguinaldo.

This hallway is called the Veteran's Hall and photos of Philippine heroes are displayed here. Aguinaldo's comrades in battle spent time here talking about the war and probably sharing a cigar and some whiskey.

The picture shows one of his hunting trips where he shot a 20 feet crocodile.

The hall leads outside to the large courtyard behind the house. What could be my daughter looking at on the side of the stairs?

This is the swimming pool she was looking at. It is now empty and just a remembrance of the fun family times they spent together.

The Courtyard

In the courtyard, you will see his tomb. It is true what they say that home is where the heart is. He loved this mansion and that could be the reason why he wanted to be buried here. He died at the age of 94 at the Veterans Memorial Hospital. He is truly one of the heroes that fought for the Independence of our country.

Outside there are still a lot of places to explore in this large property.

This is used to wash their clothes and as you could see, there is a furnace. They heat the water to sanitize the clothes back then.

This is very large and you could easily fit 5 people inside. Careful not to fall in while washing the clothes.

There are many trees on the property and some are even older than this house. If they could only speak they have so many stories to tell. It is also believed that there is a Kapre (A giant tree spirit that smokes a large Tabaco) that lives on one of these trees. It is said that the spirit is a friend of Aguinaldo who protects him. Legends tell that the Kapre even gave Aguinaldo an amulet to protect him from harm.

Although some say that it is only folklore to scare away the kids who steal mangoes from the trees. They often climb the dangerously spiked fence that could get them easily hurt. Maybe yet they made up the story to scare away his enemies. The story still lingers until now and has added color to this historic place.

Image Source Kapre

Let's have a look around so I can show you the architecture of the mansion covering the sides up to the front. The sliding windows are made from Capiz shells which are very common designs during the Spanish occupational era.

The mansion has 5 floors in total including the watchtower. Too bad as visitors are only allowed to visit up to the second floor.

The balcony of sinners from the outside.

A very large cauldron that has been used to grow water lilies. I am just not sure when they repurposed this cauldron.

We are almost at the end of the tour as we are now in front of the house.

The outside view of the music room with the green painted glass windows.

The historic balcony where the President announced our Independence on June 12, 1898.

We may not have that on video but there is a colorized video from 1929 in which Aguinaldo is doing one of his speeches on this balcony in Spanish and English. I only just discovered it now while I was writing this blog which blew my mind to get a look at the President on this historic balcony.

Video Source

As I saw the flag of our country flying up high it reminded me of all the sacrifice of our heroes in the name of Independence. I hope that they will never be forgotten. Well, it is time for us to leave now with memories from our history from this historic location as all tours come to an end.

I hope you enjoyed your time with us today and please do leave some comments if I have what it takes to be a tour guide. What do you think about the Aguinaldo Shrine? I would love to hear from you and answer any questions if I can.

Again thank you for joining us and may the spirit of freedom shine forever.

All photos are original and taken with

Lumix GX85 and Olympus 45mm f1.8