Casa Gorordo Museum and Yap-Sandiego Ancestral House, Cebu, Philippines

October is Museums and Galleries Month in the Philippines, and what's a better way to celebrate than to visit historical houses (now museums) all within walking distance in Cebu's Parian district.

Casa Gorordo Museum is a well preserved Spanish Colonial house (with its size, it's more of a mansion!) that was built in the 1850s.

What I like about Casa Gorordo Museum is its guided tour. The tour starts at the ground floor with a digital presentation about the history and importance of the area (Parian), moving on to glimpses of old Cebu through photographs and soundbites of daily life, and photos of well-known Cebuanos, and a short video presentation before moving on to the second floor.

On the second floor are bedrooms, sala, a suitor's corner, prayer room, library, bathroom, kitchen, dining room, and a very spacious balcony.

The tour takes you to different parts of the house and each part of the house's function, even the subtle ones, is explained. For example, the slightly elevated landing between the ground floor and the second floor is where guests wait or rest for the owners to meet them, because not all visitors may be allowed to go up to the second floor of the house. On the second floor, by the stairwell is the suitor's corner which is a well-lit area with a door to the master's bedroom (don't do anything fishy, Dad is watching!). Along the hallway, one will notice the beautiful carvings that subtly divides the formal sala from the upper landing, or the upper landing from the common area, etc. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).