BAGUIO CITY – A new attraction combines fantasy and cultural history is about to be completed a few months from now.
Dubbed “Igorot Stone Kingdom”, the place aims to entertain people by incorporating what the owner claims as Igorot child’s fantasy of castles and the region’s vast cultural heritage.
“The concept is about the ancient Igorot kingdom on the left and the modern Igorot kingdom on the right which is a product of fantasy, this is not genuine Igorot kingdom because there is no igorot kingdom but village or community, it is a fantasy kingdom,” said owner Pio Velasco.
Standing on a 6,000 square meter area, the left side of the property features the igorot ingenuity of creating stone walls similar to that of the rice terraces in Battad, Ifugao.
On the right side of the mountain are like modern day castles built through cement and hollow-blocks. The place is located along Long-long Road, Pinsao Proper village here.
“Hindi lang basta stone wall ang itinayo sa gilid ng bundok, kundi ito ay naglalaman ng iba’t ibang kasaysayan na kumikilala sa bawat lalawigan ng Cordillera (it does not only depict the stone wall on the mountainside but contains the history of the different provinces of the Cordillera),” added Velasco.
Among the features of the Igorot stone kingdom is the stone tower of a fantasy story about Gatan and Bangan, the Igorot man and woman who survived after the great holocaust; the fertility stone tower; Igorot life stone tower that represents the grandmother, mother and child); Kabunyan (Igorot God) tower; Igorot man and woman tower for their praying; replica of the original Igorot throne and many others.
Velasco said the area was originally an idle land but he thought of converting it into a park that would also provide income to employees of their construction company which continues to feel the pinch of the pandemic.
“Hopefully we’ll be able to complete it in two month’s time so that we can open it to visitors. I am offering this to tourists to show the talent of the igorots,” said Velasco.