SILAY CITY
It is part of the metropolitant area called Metro Bacolod, which includes the cities of Bacolod and Talisay. It has a sizable commercial and fishing port and is the site of the newBacolod SIlay International Airport, which replaced the Bacolod City Domesic Airport.
Silay is often referred to as the "Paris of Negros due to its artists, cultural shows and large collection of perfectly preserved heritage houses. More than thirty of these houses have been declared by the National Historical Commision of the Philippines. as part of the Silay National Historical Landmark. In 2015, the city celebrated its 58th charter anniversary
HOUSE NEGRENSE
The Balay Negrense (Hiligaynon for Negrense House) is a museum in Silay City, Negros Occidental in the, show casing the lifestyle lifestyle of a late 19th-century Negrense sugar baron. It is notable for being the first museum to be established in the province of Negros Occidental
The Balay Negrense was originally the of Victor F. Gaston, a son of YvesnLeopold Germain Gaston and Prudencia Fernandez. The elder Gaston is credited as one of the pioneers of sugarcane cultivation in this portion of the Philippine archipelago. A native of Normandi in France he married a Filipina from Batangas where he initially began experimenting with sugar production before relocating to Negros.
Built in 1897 the house was constructed when Victor Gaston's wife died and during the time when he was residing in his father's hacienda, Hacienda Buen Retiro. The structure housed Victor Gaston and his twelve children from 1901 until his death in 1927. Left unused by the family, the structure was abandoned in the mid-1970s and fell into disrepair until one of the heirs, Msgr. Guillermo Ma. Gaston, together with a group of concerned Negrenses formed what would later become the Negros Cultural Foundation. In 1992, Msgr. Guillermo Ma. Gaston donated the Victor Gaston house to thePhilippine Tourism Authority (now known as the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority). With donations from prominent individuals and a PhP5,000,000.00 assistance from the Philippine Tourism Authority, the structure was repaired and furnished with period furniture and fixtures. The museum was officially inaugurated on October 6, 1990. Pursuant to Board Resolution No. 1 dated March 8, 1994 of the National Historical Institute of the Philippines (National historical commision of the phiilippines), it was listed as a heritage house.
THE RUINS
HISTORY OF THE RUINS
Constructed in the early 1900s, the Ruins was once a mansion that was said to be the biggest residential structure in the area at the time. Sugar baron Don Mariano Ledesma Lacson had it built in the middle of a sugar plantation for his Portuguese first wife. The architecture is Italianate and its columns neo-Romanesque.
But even this imposing beauty was not spared by World War II. Fearing that the Japanese would use it as headquarters, the United States Armed Forces in the Far East and Filipino guerrilla soldiers set the entire mansion on fire. What was left were the columns, the facade and the floor.
Like eager kids at a theater waiting for the show to start, we sat on a row of chairs in front of the mansion and waited for the sun to set. Our excitement grew bit by bit as the skies slowly darkened and the columns illuminated.
We just sat there with our jaws on the floor. It was a breathtaking sight, slow and sweet.
BERNARDO JALANDONI MUSEUM
Don Bernardino Jalandoni and Doña Ysabel Lopez Ledesma were originally from jaro ,iloilo cityand migrated to Silay, Negros Occidental where they eventually settled and raised their children. In Silay City, along the main highway, they built their house which depicts the typical opulent houses during the early 20th century. The house was completed in 1908.
The portion of the street right in front of the Jalandoni House is narrower than the rest of the highway because a group of Silaynons fought for the preservation of the heritage houses when a road expansion project threatened to demolish these old structures, which included the ancestral home of the Jalandonis.
On 6 November 1993, the National historical institute declared the Jalandoni House a National Historical Landmark, the first to be recognized as such in the City of Silay.
Mr. Antonio J. Montinola, the grandson of Bernardino Jalandoni by his only daughter Angeles Jalandoni Montinola, who inherited the house, have placed the care and maintenance of the Museum to the Silay Heritage Foundation, Inc. It is often used as a venue for artistic, cultural and education events and performances.
HOFELINIA HERITAGE HOUSE
Silay City's stone houses, or bahay na bato—most of which are owned by landed farmers and sugar barons—are material reminders of the life of the affluent in the late 19th century to the early 20th century, the golden age of Silay and the peak of the sugar industry in the province.One of these houses, the Hofileña Ancestral House, was built in 1934.
During World War II, when the family fled to the mountains, the house was used by Japanese commanders who had meetings here.The house was later occupied by the Americans.
In 1962 the house was opened to the public. It was the first ancestral house to be opened in the city. The next house to do so was 30 years later.
The Hofileña Ancestral House has a historical marker installed by the NATINAL HISTORICAL COMMISION OF THE PHILIPPINES (NHCP) on April 6, 1993.
In 1989, the BBC TV series "Far Eastern Cookery" shot some of its scenes in the Hofileña Ancestral House when it featured Ilonggo delicacies. The house was also used as a setting by a Canadian movie company for its documentary on Sugarlandia, which was shown in the Toronto Film Festival in 2011.
