My Jose Rizal Tour Series: Rizal at Calamba, Laguna (1861-1870)

MY JOSE RIZAL TOUR SERIES: 
Rizal at CALAMBA, Laguna (1861-1870)

Highlights of Jose Rizal's life in Calamba (taken from the poster below):

Rizal lived in Calamba from the time he was born until he was 9 years old. 

June 19, 1861: Jose Rizal was born in Calamba, the 7th of 11 children 

June 22, 1961: Jose Rizal was baptized 3 days after birth at the Calamba Church adjacent to his house. 

1864: Almost 3 years old, Jose Rizal learned the alphabet. 

1865-1867: From 4-7 years old, his mother taught him to read and write. 

1867: A private tutor, named Leon Monroy, was hired to teach Jose Rizal Latin, reading, writing and arithmetic. The tutor lived with them in Calamba. 

1869: At 8 years old, Jose Rizal wrote his first poem, "Sa Aking Mga Kababata." 

1870: At 9 years old, Jose Rizal was sent to Binan to attend the Justiniano Aquino Cruz school. He lived with his aunt.

He was no longer living in Calamba when the following events that greatly influenced his future happened: 

1871: His mother was imprisoned by the Spaniards FOR 2 YEARS, on fabricated charges that she connived with her half-brother, Jose Alberto, to poison his wife. Jose Rizal was 10 years old then.

1872: The execution of Fr. Gomez, Fr. Burgos and Fr. Zamora for subversion. Paciano, Jose Rizal's elder brother, dropped out of school because friends of the priests are being followed. Paciano is a good friend of Fr. Jose Burgos. 

From 1872, Jose Rizal stopped using Mercado and started using Rizal, so as not to be associated with Paciano. He was the first family member to use Rizal. Jose Rizal enrolled at the Ateneo using the family name Rizal. 

Jose Rizal was 11 years old then.

We see a glimpse of Rizal's life in Calamba by visiting a reconstruction of his house in Calamba in the original site of his residence. The original house was demolished before the land was purchased by the government. The reconstruction was supervised by Architect Juan Nakpil from 1948-1949. The shrine was opened to the public in June 19, 1950 (source: Rizal Shrine Facebook page)

What you will see in the Rizal Shrine

The entrance of the shrine

FIRST FLOOR

You will see the following on the First Floor:

A LARGE POSTER SUMMARIZING RIZAL'S LIFE IN CALAMBA

A COPY OF HIS BAPTISMAL RECORD

The Transcript of Rizal's Baptismal Record in Spanish

The Translation of Rizal's Baptismal Record in English

Rizal was baptized on June 22, 1861, 3 days after birth.
The parish priest who baptized him was Rev. Fr. Rufino Collantes.
He had one godparent, a Rev. Fr. Pedro Casanas.

AN EXPLANATION OF WHY THE NAME RIZAL WAS ADOPTED &

AN EXPLANATION WHY THE NHI CHOSE TO PAINT THE SHRINE IN GREEN

Reason for the choosing the name Rizal: 
Ricial means "green fields, indicating the family's occupation as cultivators of land."

Reason for the green paint of the shrine: 
"the upper stories of the bahay na bato were painted in a variety of bright tints during the 19th century Philippines." The National Historical Institute chose to paint the shrine in green to indicate the source of livelihood of the Rizal family.

The Rizal Shrine in Calamba painted in green.

AN OLD PHOTO OF THE RIZAL SHRINE

SOME STORIES OF RIZAL AS A CHILD

THE STORY OF HOW THEIR FAMILY NAME CHANGED 

FROM LAMCO TO MERCADO TO RIZAL

The paternal ancestor was Domingo Lamco.

1731: Domingo Lamco adopted the name Mercado.

1849: The Spanish colonial government issued a decree directing 
Filipino families to choose a surname from a list of family names.

Francisco Mercado, Jose Rizal's father, chose Ricial, but changed 
it a bit into Rizal.

But the family continued to use Mercado.

1872: Fr. Gomez, Fr. Burgos and Fr. Zamora was executed. The 
name Mercado became suspect because of the friendship of
Paciano, Rizal's elder brother, with Fr. Burgos.

That same year, when Jose was enrolled at the Ateneo, Paciano 
advised that the Rizal name be used.

Jose Rizal was the FIRST ONE in the family to use the name 
formally.

SECOND FLOOR

The stairs to the second floor

You will see the following on the Second Floor:

THE FORMAL DINING ROOM

The first place you encounter after climbing the stairs is the formal dining room.

The windows of the living room look out to the gardens.

The left side of the photo is the path to the living room.

THE LIVING ROOM

The windows look out to the street.

The path on the left and the right lead to the bedrooms.

Take note (as shown above): 

"There is NO RECORD OF THE ACTUAL FURNITURE ARRANGEMENT. 
The set-up here is an assumption based on what is known
about houses that are as old as the original Mercado house in 
the neighboring towns. 

Photo of Rizal and His Siblings on the walls of the Living Room:

THE BEDROOMS

Below is the Master's Bedroom

Below is the Children's Bedrooms

THE INFORMAL DINING ROOM

(Situated near the Kitchen)

A giant fan

THE KITCHEN

THE TOILET AND BATH

The toilet

The bath

THE WELL

(Located beside the toilet and bath)

OUTSIDE THE GROUNDS

Looking out the formal dining room window...

... and seeing this view of the grounds. 

The red roof that you see is the St. John the Baptist Church where Rizal was baptized.

We see the bronze statue of Rizal when he was 7 years old...

... with his dog Berganza.

The tombstone of Rizal's parents is located on the right side of the house.

The tombstone of Rizal's parents, Francisco Mercado Rizal and Teodora Alonzo.
In 1996, their remains were transferred from the North Cemetery to the Rizal Shrine.

Replica of Rizal's playhouse

At the center of the building is the museum.
At the right of the building is the audio-visual room, where the film showing is held, 
and the souvenir store.

AUDIO-VISUAL ROOM

Short film showing on the life of Jose Rizal

SOUVENIR STORE

You can buy souvenirs such as ref magnets and photos.
There are also books you can buy that are not available in the local bookstore.

THE MUSEUM

You can view clothes worn by Jose Rizal.

The sign on the lower right of the frame says:
A fragment of Rizal's suit that he wore when he was executed on December 30, 1896.
It was found in his grave in 1896 by Higino Francisco and Romualdo de Jesus.
It is made of silk.

Sculpture made by Jose Rizal

Toothbrush holder made of bamboo.
It was made by Jose Rizal for his sister Trinidad
while he was in exile in Dapitan. 

Slippers embroidered by Leonor Rivera and given to Jose Rizal before he left for Madrid in 1882.

A copy of Jose Rizal's Mi Ultimo Adios (My Last Farewell)

A model of Jose Rizal's house

Open Hours:

Location: 

You need to go there through Burgos street and make a left turn at Mercado Street 

then a left turn at J.P. Rizal street because Burgos and J.P. Rizal streets are one-way.

The entrance of the shrine is along Rizal Street.

The corner of Mercado and Rizal Street

Parking is along the street of J.P. Rizal Street.

My tip:

Make sure to call the Rizal Shrine at (+63)(049) 834 1599 before your departure for the ff. reasons:

1. To verify if they're open on the day of your visit. 

Or as an alternative, browse their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/rizal.shrine.calamba

2. To book a guided tour and film showing.

The guided tour and film showing is not offered to walk-in visitors. The shrine do not employ regular tour guides. They request tour guides from the city hall who are actually students who are on-the-job training. So you need to request in advance for this service. 

To see the film, they also need a technician on hand to operate the equipment. They also turn on the air-con in the audio-visual room in advance if they know what time you're arriving. 

YOU MAY ALSO WISH TO VIEW MY ITINERARY FOR THIS TRIP:
LAGUNA: Visit Calamba and Los Banos with Kids