Travelmag
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Ancestral Houses
The ancestral houses in the Philippines resemble a whole lot of our past. Thesehouses resemble either the way in which Filipinos have lived or what our past looked liked.
There are a lot of Ancestral houses in the country in which housekeepers keep them in good shape for a lot of years. In some houses, visitors can go inside and tour the house to know what it looked like living in the house.
The Aguinaldo Shrine in Kawit, Cavite is an Ancestral house wherein Aguinaldo has lived, planned and envisioned Philippine Independence. Inside of the house, on the second floor, a Philippine map on the ceiling highlights the dining room. The balcony itself is a symbol for something by the objects that has been placed around the balcony. On the bottom of the balcony, there is a head of a Carabao holding the balcony. They say that the Carabo head resembles their protection to the Filipinos from the enemies. The Ancestral houses of the Philippines has a distinct look. They have terraces, windows that have dividers that make them into small squares and ventilation. During the height of the Spanish regime, The Galleon trade was initiated and Filipinos built their financial life around that, so it means that they don’t have to work and they just have to wait for the ships to arrive. That is what the terraces are for, for the Filipinos to look out for arriving ships. The houses have small windows, because if they have big windows and breaks, then the whole window
is gone, but if they are divided into small squares, it will be easier to clean up and replace.