VILLA EPIFANIA

Villa Epifania is one of the historic houses in Sta. Rita Municipality in Pampanga. Local folks dubbed Villa Epifania, the “Grand Old House” or merely the Guanzon ancestral house.

The storied mansion has been featured in some TV documentaries because of its supernatural occurrences and extraordinary poltergeists.

The first all-concrete house in Sta. Rita, Pampanga was constructed along Barangay San Jose during the American colonial period in 1932. The Grand Old House is among five ancestral houses in Sta Rita, four in Barangay San Jose and one in San Vicente in the same Municipality.

Countless movies and TV documentaries were also shot in this eerie mansion, like “Tanging Yaman” and Jay Taruc’s documentary, to name a few.

SANTA RITA ECOPARK

From my standpoint, the Municipality of Sta. Rita is underrated as far as historical significance is concerned. The town is also famous for its mega dike-turned-Eco Park, a scenic attraction of ecological colors and vibrant industries, built to fortify and protect the Riteñans’ habitat against the roaring mudflow in the aftermath of Mt. Pinatubo eruption in 1991.

DUMAN AND TURRONES DE CASOY

Sta. Rita Municipality also hosts the Duman Festival every first Saturday of December. The Duman Festival started in 2002.  Duman is plain green rice harvested through the end of December every year.

Aside from duman, the farming town is also home to the famous native delicacy, “Turrones de Casoy.”

Santa Rita is a must-see Municipality in Pampanga.

This feature is my first blog in 2019.

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