Waterfall Hidden behind the Adobe Wall: Brgy. Tipacan

The Tipacan River

Have you ever wondered how a church was built? In the Spanish era there were no power tools of any kind. Here, I tell a story of how the St. Bartholomew Parish Church in Nagcarlan, Laguna came to be. In Brgy. Tipacan, you can find an adobe wall where the stones used to build the church was carved from, and hidden behind it is a nice, cool waterfall.

About 2-3 Kilometers north of the town of Nagcarlan,  Brgy. Tipacan is home to clean rivers and betel nuts(used in making "nga nga" or "betel chew"). But what's good here is that the riverbed is not made of sand, instead it's made up of "dape" or clay used in making adobe bricks.

The adobe wall where the stones were carved.

*In 1583, under the supervision of Fray Cristobal Torres, a new structure made of bricks and stone was constructed. When fire razed the church in 1781, another structure was erected by Fray Atanacio de Argobrejo and finished by Fray Fernando de la Puebla who also had the four-storey belfry constructed.

The stones that were used to build the church was said to be from Brgy. Tipacan(hence the name Tipacan, meaning a place where stones are shaped). Stories tell that forced labor was the foundation of the church. It is said that in order to bring the stones from Tipacan to the center of the town where the church was built, the townsfolk had to line up,  pass stones to each other until those stones reached the construction site. In 2008, a stage play depicting the lives of Nagcarleños under the Spanish regime was produced by a group called Koryo Arts in cooperation with the Nagcarlan Underground Cemetery Historical Landmark where it was staged.

This is the stage play called Bajo la Campana(Life Under the Bell).

To this day, you can still see markings of shaping stones on the adobe wall in the Tipacan River and behind that very wall lies a waterfall. The Tipacan Falls is about 15 feet high with a shallow catch basin of about 20 feet wide. To get to this waterfall, you have to take a 15-meter trek from the adobe wall into a small stream that trails from the catch basin.

The Tipacan Falls

Travel Guide:

You can reach Nagcarlan's Brgy. Tipacan with a tricycle ride from the town proper.

From Manila:
                Bus Ride to San Pablo via Lucena City bound buses.
                Land Mark is SPC Medical Center
                Fare P127

                Jeepney ride From SPC Medical Center to City Proper of San Pablo
                Fare P8

                Jeepney ride from San Pablo City to Nagcarlan
                Terminal is near the San Pablo Cathedral.
                Fare P25

                Tricycle Ride from the town proper VIA Brgy. Talangan.
                Fare P10

*Source: www.nagcarlan.gov.ph
Thanks to my editor: Ms. Janica Mae Regalo ;)