The Familia Luzuriaga Cemetery or Mausoleum, to be exact, is right in the middle of the street which may baffle first-time visitors in Bacolod City. The privately owned cemetery is said to be in the Guinness Book of World Records as “the only cemetery in the world at the intersection of two highways”. This however turned out to be untrue since no such record exists in the Guinness. Any proof of this claim is welcome.
The Familia Luzuriaga Cemetary is an island of Lopez Jaena Street which intersects with Burgos Street. This intersection is locally called Bangga Patyo which literally means ‘cemetery intersection’ in English. The cemetery belongs to a prominent clan in Negros, the Ruiz de Luzuriaga family. The first Ruiz de Luzuriaga in Negros was Don Eusebio Ruiz de Luzuriaga who settled in Bacolod City in 1840 after he exiled himself from Spain. His son, Jose Ruiz de Luzuriaga, later became an important figure in the Negros Revolution or the Al Cinco de Noviembre.
The family was also very generous to Bacolod City. In fact, the location of the Bacolod City Hall used to be the hacienda house of Don Jose Ruiz de Luzuriaga and was donated to the city government. Other prominent members of the clan include movie director Peque Gallaga.
I don’t know the history of the cemetery and how it ended where it is right now. For the benefit of those who haven’t been to the place, I copied an image from Google Maps where I also placed additional labels. A closer look at the image revealed that the intersection is surrounded by family mausoleums. To the east of the Familia Luzuriaga Cemetery is the Bacolod Public Cemetery. Across the public cemetery is the mausoleum of the Lopez Family. Then to the west of the Luzuriaga Cemetery is the mausoleum of Jayme-Gamboa family.
These additional information led me to ask several questions. What came first, the Familia Luzuriaga Cemetery or the streets? Was the cemetery placed right in the middle of the street to give honor to the family for their generosity to Bacolod City? Or was the cemetery already there before the roads were constructed but was allowed to remain in its location in reverence to the family?
Only a family member would probably know the history of the cemetery. The mystery just adds to its charm and people like me would always wonder how in the world a cemetery was made into an island? Indeed, the Familia Luzuriaga Cemetery is for the books.
More information about the Familia Luzuriaga Mausoleum
Over the years, I updated this post once a new information is available. Our readers provided interesting information in the comments section and from other sources.
The Jayme-Gamboa Mausoleun used to be the boundary of the Bacolod City public cemetery. Negros Occidental Tourism Officer Raymund Alunan shared that when the City Government of Bacolod implemented a road widening project in the 1950s, they only used a portion of the area to make two one-way streets of what is now the Lopez-Jaena St.. The tombs affected by the road widening were transferred to the public cemetery while the Familia Luzuriaga Mausoleum was retained since it was the Luzuriaga family who donated the lot where the former Bacolod City Hall was located.
A Heritage Site and Tourist Destination
The Sangguniang Panlungsod of Bacolod City approved last September on first reading a proposed ordinance declaring the Familia Luzuriaga Mausoleum as a heritage site and tourist destination. The ordinance also provides for the appropriation of funds for the maintenance and beautification of the mausoleum. Once passed, the ordinance will ensure that the mausoleum is properly maintained all year-round.
The Familia Luzuriaga Mausoleum is quite simple compared to other mausoleums of prominent families sin Negros Occidental. However, it has a rich historical value because of Jose Ruiz de Luzuriaga‘s role in the Negros Revolution and he was also appointed as Governor of Negros Occidental in 1901.
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