Pila Historic Town Center

The Pila Historic Town Center is a historic district located at Barangay Santa Clara Norte, Pila, Laguna, Philippines. The district preserves examples of Spanish and American-era architecture found in its town proper laid out with the Spanish colonial town planning system for the Indies and is also a pre-Hispanic archaeological site. The National Historical Institute (now the National Historical Commission of the Philippines) declared a specific portion of Pila as a National Historical Landmark in 2000.^[1] The town has been recognized by scholars as a possible contender in UNESCO as a world heritage site.^[2][3]

Pila Historic Town Center
Native name Tagalog: Makasaysayang Kabayanan ng Pila
Erected in June 1931, the Pila Municipal Center is one of the well-preserved heritage buildings found in the Pila Historic Town Center
Location	Pila, Laguna, Philippines
Coordinates	14°14′01.6″N 121°21′52″E
Governing body	Municipal Government of Pila
Location of Pila Historic Town Center in Philippines

Rationale for Declaration as Historic Town Center

The NHI board resolution cites several reasons for the declaration of certain areas in downtown Pila as National Historical Landmark:^[1]

• The present-day town of Pila is a pre-Hispanic center of culture and trade in the Laguna area as proven by clay potteries unearthed in an archaeological site in Pinagbayanan in 1967;
• Spaniards used to refer to Pila as La Noble Villa de Pila in reference to its well-mannered citizens and rich culture;
• As of writing, Pila is one of the few, existing towns in the Philippines following the Spanish colonial town planning system with the town center being the plaza complex surrounded by government and religious infrastructure; and
• Pila features a collection of well-preserved of Spanish and American-era houses, government structures, and church.

Declared Areas

According to the board resolution, the following streets in Brgy. Santa Clara Norte are identified as part of Pila Historic Town Center:^[1]

Street Name	Barangay
General Luna Street (North boundary)	Santa Clara Norte
Oca Street
Rivera Street
San Antonio Street
Ruiz Street
De Castro Street
Mabini Street (South boundary)
Bonifacio Street (West boundary)
Burzagom Street
M. H. Del Pilar Street (East boundary)

Notable Built Heritage

Cultural Property wmph identifier[lower-roman 1]	Site name	Description	Province	City or municipality	Address	Coordinates	Image
	National Shrine and Parish Church of San Antonio de Padua	First Antonine parish in the Philippines; A 19th-century, Baroque church built by Franciscan Friars who established the parish in 1578	Laguna	Pila	Poblacion	14°14′01″N 121°21′52″E
	Liceo de Pila	Formerly used as church convent	Laguna	Pila	Poblacion	14°14′02″N 121°21′51″E
	Spanish era bridge		Laguna	Pila	Victoria Pila Road, Riverside, Brgy. Santa Clara Norte	14°13′57″N 121°21′32″E
	Spanish era well	Built in 1886	Laguna	Pila	Brgy. Santa Clara Norte	14°14′08″N 121°21′40″E
	Pinagbayanan Crematorium	Site of the oldest crematorium in the Philippines	Laguna	Pila	Brgy. Pinagbayanan	14°15′02″N 121°21′41″E
	Juan Fuentes / Romana Santiago House	Currently owned by the Natividad	Laguna	Pila	Bonifacio corner General Luna Streets, Brgy. Santa Clara Norte	14°14′09″N 121°21′43″E
	Angel Natividad House		Laguna	Pila	Bonifacio Street, Brgy. Santa Clara Norte	14°14′08″N 121°21′44″E
	Payra House		Laguna	Pila	Bonifacio Street, Brgy. Santa Clara Norte	14°14′06″N 121°21′45″E
	Leaven of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (LIHM) Formation House		Laguna	Pila	304 Bonifacio Street, Brgy. Santa Clara Norte	14°14′05″N 121°21′45″E
	Madrigal House	Built in the 1920s	Laguna	Pila	#287 Bonifacio corner Rivera Streets, Brgy. Santa Clara Norte	14°14′04″N 121°21′46″E
	Ramos House	Built in the 1930s	Laguna	Pila	Bonifacio corner Rivera Streets, Brgy. Santa Clara Norte	14°14′04″N 121°21′46″E
	Escueta House		Laguna	Pila	Bonifacio corner Rivera Streets, Brgy. Santa Clara Norte	14°14′04″N 121°21′46″E
	Unknown House		Laguna	Pila	#159 Rivera Street, Brgy. Santa Clara Norte	14°14′03″N 121°21′44″E
	Banka House		Laguna	Pila	#162 Rivera corner Balagtas Streets, Brgy. Santa Clara Norte	14°14′03″N 121°21′44″E
	Magdalene Endaya House		Laguna	Pila	#305 Bonifacio Street, Brgy. Santa Clara Sur	14°14′00″N 121°21′48″E
	Natividad House		Laguna	Pila	#307 Bonifacio Street, Brgy. Santa Clara Sur	14°14′00″N 121°21′48″E
	Unknown Ruined House	Built in 1926	Laguna	Pila	#028 Purok 7, Bonifacio Street, Brgy. Santa Clara Sur	14°13′57″N 121°21′49″E
	Narciso Piedad House	Built in 1965	Laguna	Pila	#342 Bonifacio Street, Brgy. Santa Clara Sur	14°13′55″N 121°21′50″E
	Unknown House		Laguna	Pila	#79 and #80, Purok 8, Bonifacio Street, Brgy. Santa Clara Sur	14°13′54″N 121°21′51″E
	Iglesia Filipina Indepediente Church	Built in 1932 and dedicated to Saint Anthony of Padua	Laguna	Pila	Mabini Street, Brgy. Santa Clara Sur	14°13′49″N 121°21′53″E
	Monreal House	Built in 1913	Laguna	Pila	Rizal corner Mabini Street, Brgy. Santa Clara Sur	14°13′50″N 121°21′55″E
	Unknown House		Laguna	Pila	#241 Rizal Street, Brgy. Santa Clara Sur	14°13′50″N 121°21′56″E
	Aguilar House		Laguna	Pila	#110 Rizal Street, Brgy. Santa Clara Sur	14°13′51″N 121°21′54″E
	Clinica Napil	Built in the 1910s	Laguna	Pila	#23 Rizal Street, Brgy. Santa Clara Sur	14°13′52″N 121°21′55″E
	Unknown House		Laguna	Pila	De Castro corner Rizal Streets, Brgy. Santa Clara Sur	14°13′54″N 121°21′54″E
	Relova House	Now used as Neldan Poutry Supply Store	Laguna	Pila	De Castro corner Rizal Streets, Brgy. Santa Clara Sur	14°13′54″N 121°21′53″E
	Unknown House		Laguna	Pila	Rizal Street, Brgy. Santa Clara Sur	14°13′54″N 121°21′53″E	Upload Photo
	Unknown House		Laguna	Pila	Rizal Street, Brgy. Santa Clara Sur	14°13′55″N 121°21′54″E
	Petronilo Alava House		Laguna	Pila	Rizal Street, Brgy. Santa Clara Sur	14°13′55″N 121°21′53″E
	Unknown House		Laguna	Pila	#43 Rizal Street, Brgy. Santa Clara Sur	14°13′55″N 121°21′53″E
	Navarro House		Laguna	Pila	Rizal Street, Brgy. Santa Clara Sur	14°13′56″N 121°21′52″E
	Valenzuela House		Laguna	Pila	Ruiz corner Rizal Streets, Brgy. Santa Clara Sur	14°13′58″N 121°21′51″E
	Mendoza House		Laguna	Pila	#12 Rizal Street, Brgy. Santa Clara Sur	14°13′58″N 121°21′51″E
	Relova House		Laguna	Pila	Rizal Street, Brgy. Santa Clara Sur	14°14′00″N 121°21′50″E
	Pila Museum	A one-level, stone structure housing artifacts found from the archaeological excavations done in Pila in 1967.[4]	Laguna	Pila	San Antonio corner Burzagom Street, Brgy. Santa Clara Norte	14°14′03″N 121°21′53″E

See also

• Philippine Registry of Cultural Property

Notes

1. wmph is an internal identifier used by Wikimedia Philippines to identify the monument. This is not an official identifier, and only shown temporarily in the templates until the government creates an updated complete list.

References

1. "Declaring the Town Center of Pila in Laguna as a National Historical Landmark" (PDF). nhcp.gov.ph. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
2. https://outoftownblog.com/pila-laguna-national-historical-landmark/amp/
3. https://mseuf.edu.ph/research/read/1586
4. "Pila Museum". www.lagunatravelguide.com. Retrieved 5 April 2015.

External links

• List of Board Resolutions of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines
• Republic Act No. 10066 - National Cultural Heritage Act of 2009