Paco Park

Manila, NCR

A circular, walled Spanish-colonial cemetery built in 1820 on the edge of then-outskirt Manila, converted into a park after the city grew around it. José Rizal was buried here in secret by the Spanish authorities after his 1896 execution; the niche is marked. The concentric oval walls of burial niches — mostly intact — give the park a singular quality among Manila's public spaces. Concerts are held in the central rotunda on Friday evenings, and the setting — romantic, slightly morbid, genuinely beautiful — is unlike anything else in the city.

📸 Matthew Gan (CC BY-SA 4.0), Dennisraymondm (CC BY-SA 3.0), Ralff Nestor Nacor (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Wikimedia Commons

cemeteryRizalcolonialparkconcertsrotunda

Vibes