25 Jun Museums and Parks in Cagayan de Oro City – Learn More about the City’s Rich Historical and Cultural Heritage and Reconnect with Nature by Visiting its Famous Parks
Cagayan de Oro has really nice and nature-lush parks in the middle of the city, more than a reason enough to reconnect with nature since people don’t need to go outside the city just to view and experience tall trees and beautiful flora. The city also has its share of historical and cultural museums. They may not be comparable to the large museums in Manila, but they’re enough to contain the remnants of the city’s history and cultural heritage.
These museums are priceless for historians tasked with piecing together the city’s unique history and background that isn’t normally learned in the classrooms. Sadly, not many locals know about the city’s history. Hopefully this article will encourage people to spend at least a day or two to visit the different museums and famous parks in Cagayan de Oro.
City Museum of Cagayan de Oro
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If you’re a Cagayanon, the old 1921 water tower seen beside the St. Augustine Cathedral or in front of the Gaston Park is a familiar site to you. Many often pass by the tower almost daily, some often asking what use is the old tower now, without realizing it has been converted to a museum. It used to be the town’s water source when the tower was still tapping water from Malasag.
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In 2008 the city government, then under Mayor Constantino Jaraula, received funding to renovate and convert the old water tower, this being the oldest public structure existing in the city intact in spite of going through the ravages of World War II. The City Museum is open from 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., though it is closed on weekends and holidays. Perhaps someone can suggest to have the museum open on Saturdays and Sundays and have it closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.
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This makes sense since families and individuals can visit the museum during the weekend since weekdays are work and school days. It has three levels or floors inside. All 3 floors mostly contain old photographs of famous Cagayanons with historical significance or with big contributions to the city, historical events, and lifestyle events. You can only have your picture taken on the ground floor. There is an entrance fee of PhP20.00. Very affordable even for students. There are a few artifacts, antiques, and old paintings around but nothing else of historical significance. What’s somewhat interesting is the old Ostrich egg among the artifacts that has to be centuries old.
Gaston Park
Image Source | cagayandeoro.gov.ph/25-tourist-spots/43-gaston-park
Since we’re also writing about parks, the Gaston Park is a nice place to visit, especially at night or on cloudy days. The trees are still young and spaced away from each other so there’s little shade on sunny days.
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It’s a nice park with a playground for the kids and a few historical markers. It is named after the first mayor of the town, Segundo Gaston. It used to be the town center and plaza during the Spanish era where criminals and rebels were also executed and served as the training ground and guard house assembly ground during the Philippine-American War and eventual American occupation.
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According to historical records most of the Battle of Cagayan de Misamis that eventually spilled over to the Battle of Agusan Hill took place around this park. The park’s main attraction during Sunday is the large water fountain at the center that dates back to the 1960’s.
The Museum of Three Cultures
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It gets its name from three distinct cultures exhibited at the museum, namely artifacts and antiques from ancient and early Lumad, Muslim, and Christian tribes in and around Cagayan de Oro.
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The museum is the most recent of three museums in the city and is run by the Capitol University, formerly the Cagayan Capitol College, itself one of the oldest schools in the city founded back in 1962.
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The museum only opened in 2008 and showcases a collection of rare arts and crafts, weapons, musical instruments, furniture, jewelry, archeological digs from Butuan, and other rare antiques from the ancient and early Christian lowland tribes, Muslim tribes, and Manobo and Higaunon tribes.
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There are also many old photographs from the Spanish era.
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The museum is open on business hours on weekdays except Mondays and is located at Corrales Extension, just a stone’s throw away from the Gaisano City Mall.
Museo de Oro
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Run by the Jesuits of Xavier University-Ateneo de Cagayan, this museum is the first and oldest in the city, located along Corrales Avenue, inside the university’s campus.
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It is officially called a folkloric museum and houses Cagayan de Oro’s rarest collection of ancient and pre-Spanish era artifacts and bones, mostly from the Huluga Caves archeological discovery.
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It also houses ancient artifacts and antiques from Muslim and highland tribal groups in and around the city before the Spanish era. The old photographic collection in the museum and paintings, especially during the Philippine-American War, is priceless and is the only collection of its kind in the city.
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There are also artifacts during the American occupation and commonwealth and during the Japanese occupation of the town during World War II. There is even a small display of the book collection of the late Fr. Francisco Demetrio, S.J. who was the founder of the museum. There are also contemporary paintings displayed by the famous Cagayanon painters Nonoy Estarte and Beth Vamenta.
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The museum is now under the curatorship of Dr. Burton, the archeologist who studied the Huluga Caves. Entrance fees are PhP50.00 for adults and PhP20.00 for students. They are open from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. from Tuesday to Friday, while on Saturday they are open only in the morning.
Vicente de Lara Park (formerly McArthur Park)
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Located in front of the Provincial Capitol Building along Apolinar Velez Street, it was formerly named after General Douglas McArthur because this was the area where the general and his family bivouacked after escaping by PT Boat from Corregidor before the American defeat in 1942 during World War II.
Image Source | en.wikipedia.org
From this area, the general and his entourage made their way to the Del Monte Airfield in Bukidnon to board a B-17 bomber en route to Australia. It was renamed after a former governor of the province of Misamis Oriental. The entire place is dotted with tall and shady trees and is a popular venue for jogging in the morning and open lunch and dinner for families and friends who bring their own food and sit under the trees or on the tables and benches around the park.
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During the evenings many can be seen playing chess since the tables have chess boards engraved on them. At the park’s center is the Heritage Monument designed by national artist Eduardo Castrillo while on the right side edge of the park is the Press Freedom Monument also designed by Castrillo, a tribute to all Mindanao journalists murdered in the course of their work.
Anonymous
Posted at 16:58h, 19 Novemberwow Cagayan De Oro City