The Manila North Cemetery (Spanish: Cementerio del Norte) is one of the oldest cemeteries in Metro Manila, Philippines. The cemetery is owned by and located in the City of Manila, the national capital, and is one of the largest in the metropolis at 54 ha. It is located alongside Andrés Bonifacio Avenue and borders two other important cemeteries: the La Loma Cemetery and the Manila Chinese Cemetery. Numerous impoverished families notably inhabit some of the mausoleums.

History and Architecture

The Manila North Cemetery was formerly part of La Loma Cemetery but was separated as an exclusively Catholic burial ground. The cemetery formerly known as Cementerio del Norte was laid out in 1904. The cemetery in its entirety was once called Paang Bundok, the area National Hero Jose Rizal selected as his final resting place. The current Paang Bundok is now a barangay located before the cemetery grounds. During the Japanese occupation of the Philippines in World War II the cemetery became the site of atrocities, with accounts that Imperial Japanese forces led by General Tomoyuki Yamashita brutally killed more than 2,000 unarmed noncombatants in the cemetery from October to November 1944. The cemetery being one of the oldest cemeteries in the metropolis is evident on the different designs of mausoleums that reflect the prevailing architectural style in the Philippines during the period they were constructed. The styles range from simple, plain-painted with a patch of greenery, to very complex designs that contain reliefs that are difficult to carve while also having different colors.

Informal settlement

Many people live inside the cemetery with some of them serving as caretakers of the mausoleums where they also stay to survive. When the families or owners of the mausoleums come, especially during and after All Soul's Day, the families transfer to other places. In addition, the informal settlers often serve as informal tour guides, bringing visitors to tombs of famous people and discussing the oral history of the area. Others take advantage of the quantity of visitors during the Allhallowtide holiday, setting up stalls to sell drinks and snacks, and providing visitors other services like renting out their toilets. Clearing operations made in 2019 destroyed the shanties and other obstructions inside the cemetery, displacing the families who lived in the makeshift homes and in the mausoleums.

Heritage Structures

Mausoleum of the Veterans of the Revolution

The Mausoleum of the Veterans of the Revolution is a memorial dedicated to Filipino revolutionaries of the Philippine Revolution and the Philippine–American War.

Legarda-Tuason Family Mausoleum

Completed in 1915, this mausoleum is noted for its Egyptian-inspired design, especially the two sphinxes found in its entrance. It is a collaborative work of brothers Arcadio and Juan Arellano. It is the final resting place of the ancestors and descendants of the Tuason-Legarda-Valdes-Prieto families.

Bautista-Nakpil Pylon

The Bautista-Nakpil Pylon at the North Cemetery was designed by Juan Nakpil as a tribute to both Bautista and Nakpil families, including his uncle and benefactor, Dr. Ariston Bautista. The funerary pylon is a tall, square podium which has four human figures on the top corners that form a gesture of prayer capping off the tall columns. The frontal side is embellished by geometricized flowers, spiraling foliage, and nautilus shells in low-relief concrete panels which has a highly decorated stoup on the lower portion. An octagonal lantern-like form sits on top of the podium with miniature columns buttressing on all sides and crowned by a rigid dome.

Notable burials

The remains of key figures in Philippine history are buried in the cemetery. Most of the people have their tombs on the main avenue of the cemetery while other notable people are located near the main entrance. Some of them are: ** Unmarked graves ** ** Group and Family plots ** Mausoleo de los Veteranos de la Revolución A memorial and national monument dedicated to Filipino revolutionaries of the Philippine Revolution of the 1890s and the Philippine–American War. Notable burials in this monument were: 29 Martyrs of World War II Memorial This memorial serves as the final resting place of twenty-nine Manila residents that the Japanese Army executed on August 30, 1944. The remains of the executed individuals were said to be located and identified by their compatriots after the war, after a Japanese-American officer (working in the Japanese Army as a spy), revealed what he had seen and the location of the grave after the executions. Their remains were interred in this mausoleum on March 9, 1947. Notable burials in this plot were: Osmeña Family Plot Roxas Family Plot the Philippines]] Magsaysay Family Plot Bautista-Nakpil Family Plot Roces Family Mausoleum Legarda-Tuason Family Mausoleum Poe Family Mausoleum Other Group plots and memorials ** Former interments **

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