Our Lady of Lourdes Shrine & Ayuquitan Festival, San Jose
San Jose, Negros Oriental · about 150 km from 3ACs Apartment, Talisay City
A pilgrimage shrine among the sugarcane fields of Negros Oriental's smallest town, near the Twin Lakes road.
About
San Jose, just 14 km north of Dumaguete, is the least populous town in Negros Oriental, but devotees know it for its Our Lady of Lourdes Shrine in the cane fields, where a 'spinning sun' is said to have marked the Virgin's visit; pilgrims come especially on Saturdays. Every May 7 the Ayuquitan Festival fills the streets with dancers retelling how the town got its old name, as part of the fiesta on May 10. San Jose is also on the way up to the Balinsasayao Twin Lakes, so it fits easily into a day in the hills.
History
The old name Ayuquitan is said to come from 'inukitan' — a pile of husks and peelings the natives were looking at when Spanish visitors asked the name of the place. San Jose became a separate town in 1954.
Why visit
A peaceful faith stop on the road to the Twin Lakes.
How to get there
On the national highway about 14 km north of Dumaguete; tricycle to the shrine.
- Jeepney or bus north from Dumaguete
- Tricycle
Prices (estimates)
- EntranceFree
Hours / best time: Daily; Ayuquitan Festival May 7, town fiesta May 10
Nearby places
- Amlan Budlit & Crafts — Pick up 'budlit' — budbud sticky rice with chocolate — and woven crafts on the road north.
- Twin Lakes Balinsasayao & Danao — Two crater lakes in mossy rainforest above Dumaguete.
- Lo-oc Beach WWII Landing Site, Sibulan — The Sibulan shore where American liberation forces landed in Negros Oriental in April 1945.
- Tanjay Budbud & Sikwate — Sticky-rice budbud kabog with hot thick chocolate.
- St. James the Greater Church, Tanjay — Home of the oldest parish in Negros Oriental, founded in 1580.