Baclayon Cemetery

Overview

Baclayon Cemetery is a heritage structure in Barangay San Vicente, Baclayon municipality, listed in the provincial tourism inventory under the Historical and Culture category. Baclayon is one of the oldest Spanish-era settlements in Bohol, and its burial ground reflects the long Catholic history of the municipality — Baclayon Church itself dates to the late 16th century and is among the oldest stone churches in the Philippines.

The parish cemetery is reached by a road leading from the mortuary chapel (ermita de difuntos), a separate rectangular chapel built in 1859 near the church’s baptistery. The cemetery grounds are enclosed by stone fences, with a stone chapel at the center of the grounds and an ossuary at the back of that chapel.

[TO ENRICH: tomb styles of individual graves, notable interments, and the approximate age of the cemetery grounds themselves (as distinct from the 1859 mortuary chapel) still need sourcing.]

Location

Barangay San Vicente, Baclayon. Baclayon municipality sits approximately 6 kilometres east of Tagbilaran City along the coastal road. The cemetery is near other Baclayon heritage sites including the Baclayon Church (Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception Parish), old stone bridges, and uplifted marine terraces.

Getting There

From Tagbilaran City, take a tricycle or jeepney east along the coastal road toward Baclayon — approximately 15 to 20 minutes. The municipality is easily reached on the standard Tagbilaran–Baclayon route. Tricycles from the Tagbilaran terminal serve Baclayon regularly.

Practical Info

As a working cemetery, the site is accessible during daytime hours. No entrance fee is expected. Visits are most appropriate during the dry season. The cemetery sees increased local activity around All Saints’ Day (November 1) and All Souls’ Day (November 2) when Filipino families gather to clean and decorate graves.

What to Expect

A historic municipal cemetery with probable Spanish-era and early American-period grave structures. Notable architectural features documented for the site include its stone perimeter fences, a central stone chapel, and an ossuary behind that chapel, all connected to the church grounds via the road from the 1859 mortuary chapel. [FACT NEEDED: age of oldest extant tombs, any declared heritage status separate from the church.] Visitors with an interest in Spanish colonial history will find Baclayon most productive as part of a broader heritage tour that includes the church museum and stone bridge.

Notes

Source: Bohol Tourism Profile Eco Dev2025.pdf (BPTO Table 11). Coordinates are approximate for Baclayon Poblacion area.

Cemetery architectural details (stone fences, central stone chapel, ossuary, road access from the 1859 mortuary chapel/ermita de difuntos near the church baptistery) sourced from Baclayon Church — Wikipedia (accessed 2026-07-28), which attributes these details to Regalado Trota Jose, Visita Iglesia Bohol (A Guide to Historic Churches), 2001, pp. 22 and 28.

[FACT NEEDED: cemetery dimensions, oldest documented graves/age of oldest extant tombs, notable interments, any NHI/NHCP heritage recognition specific to the cemetery grounds (separate from the church building’s own 1994 National Historical Landmark and 2010 National Cultural Treasure designations).] Research attempt 2026-07-28: web searches for “Baclayon Cemetery Bohol history tombs Spanish era,” “Baclayon cemetery heritage NHCP historical marker,” “Baclayon San Vicente cemetery,” “Baclayon municipal cemetery tourist attraction inventory,” “Baclayon cemetery notable burial priest interment,” and “Baclayon cemetery oldest grave marker heritage declared” turned up only the church-focused sources above; checked NHCP’s Bohol historical-marker registry listings and the municipality’s own tourism page (baclayon.bohol.gov.ph/tourism), neither of which lists the cemetery as a separately marked/declared heritage site or gives grave ages, dimensions, or named interments. Note: some blog sources conflate a separate “Ermita Ruins” honeycomb-tomb site with Baclayon — that site is actually in Dimiao, Bohol, and was not used here. A future pass could try the Baclayon LGU/BPTO tourism office directly, the National Museum’s 1998 excavation report referenced in passing by some sources, or Filipino/Cebuano-language local history pages.