CAPILLA MORTUARIO 

 

Just outside the church, around 100 meters is the Capilla Mortuario that serves as the mortuary chapel of the church. 

When the Spaniards laid out their plan for the walled complex of the pueblo, one of the most important developments was the building of a church cemetery within the complex. 

 

 

This cemetery was situated right around the capilla mortuario which itself served as a place where the funeral wake was held before they are interred. 

A closer look would show a San Miguel Arcangel depicting a promise to guide and protect from the enemy.
As the population of the poblacion continued to grow the cemetery in the walled complex became a problem as the bodily fluids from the deceased seeped through the water system of Argao and thus caused many people to get sick. 

To remedy this, the Spanish authorities in the early nineteenth century mandated that all cemeteries should be moved away from the center of the town in order to avoid further contamination of the pueblo's water source.

  

 

  

PUERTO MARINA

 

Beside the Capila Mortuario is the Puerto Marina, which leads to the sea and to Baluarte de Argao, a resort-like accommodation facing the sea.

 

 

 

 

THE HALL OF JUSTICE

 

The current Hall of Justice that once serves as school for boys and girls and was once known as Colegio  de los Niños. 

Church workers  built this structure who asked their children to bring a block of coral stone everyday when they come to school.

CASA REAL

The old municipal building or Casa Real. Casa Real is one example of the bahay na bato or more known as "Balay na Tisa" for Cebuanos. 

 

It is also the oldest existing town hall in the province of Cebu which was built in 1608.

 

The second floor of Casa Real has been converted into a museum.

 

ARGAO UNITY PLAZA

 

The view from the balcony on the second floor of Casa Real overseeing the Hall of Justice in the left, the Argao Plaza and San Miguel el Arcangel Parish Church.

The Argao Unity Plaza is considered to one of the best well kept town plazas in the Visayas. 

 

It features three antique Spanish to early American period canyons and a statue of National Hero Jose Rizal.