The Rise and Fall of Dominican Hill

It went the full circle from a monastery, to a war garrison, to a five-star hotel before finally falling
into total dereliction and ruin. Today it's just another curious tourist attraction wrapped in a total
historical enigma--uncelebrated, unappreciated, its rich heritage story mostly untold. 

Dominican Hill was named after the Roman Catholic friars of the Dominican Order who built this imposing all-white building on top of one of the highest peaks within Baguio City. The place was always wrapped in mystery because few people were ever allowed inside this seminary built sometime in 1913.

    Once or twice a year, the young priests attending this seminary school were let out to interact with the local community--doing mostly cathechismal work. They were notable for their excellent men's choir. But for the most part, they kept to themselves and cloistered behind the tall wrought-iron gate that guarded this sprawling 5-hectare estate. It fell into disrepair in the late 70s, a victim of the economic depression and diminishing interest in the catholic priesthood. It was sold for an unknown sum to a local millionaire and faith healer Tony Agpaoa. He refurbished the 50-room mansion into an inn and called it the Diplomat Hotel. It slowly foundered into dereliction and by the end of 1981 accumulating taxes on the property remained unpaid.

Dominican Hill offers the most picturesque bird's-eye-view
of the city that once looked up to it as a beacon of Roman
Catholic influence. Around Christmas time, its giant star display
high above the city could be seen for many kilometers around 

Finally, the Government escheated the estate in 1985. It has sat as a veritable white elephant ever since, too expensive for any practical buyer. Looters soon cannibalized the building, reducing it into little more than a crumbling shell of its once glorious self. The huge cross at the top of the building is still visible for kilometers around. In happy Christmases past, it used to hold the largest yuletide display of lights and lanterns.  A giant "Star of Bethlehem"  measuring almost 25 feet across mounted by seminarians in 1978 still holds the local record for the biggest Christmas lantern ever made in the city, unchallenged to this day.

       A prayer garden nearby featured the statue of the black Saint Martin de Porres. Several rows of stone pews were once a favorite site for outdoor sacraments, even an occasional garden wedding. Today, the site has been declared a "Heritage Site" by the city government. It’s all just words. In reality, the whole place lies in total ruin. Everytime I come to this place today, my eyes tear up with a profound sadness at how such an iconic place that was so much a part of Baguio City’s history has now become a deathly and mute testimony to the ultimate fate that awaits all men and their institutions---from the height of beauty and splendor to the oblivion of death and destruction. Indeed, death and decay comes to everything and everyone.

The eerie interior of the Dominican Hill monastery rings faintly
of its once glorious past. Not it's just slowly crumbling to dust/

Dominican Hill is one of many spots around Baguio City that were called "topsides" during the turn of the century when Baguio was a young city. These elevated sites were preferred by government, military and religious institutions to house schools, barracks, administration buildings and posh residential enclaves. You can rattle off a number of these "hills"--Dominican Hill, Quezon Hill, Aurora Hill, Luneta Hill, Mirador Hill, Scout Barrio Hillside, Camp Allen Hill, to name a few.

RECENTLY, I started my own YouTube channel and  made a short video abot this same material from a different perspective. You can view that video by clicking the image link below:

NOTE FROM JOEL: Hi, folks! Recently, I started a YouTube channel which is called "Parables and Reason" It  is kind of similar to this blog content-wise. You can check out my channel by clicking the link below:

 Joel R. Dizon - PARABLES AND REASON