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| The statue of Gat Tayaw as a welcome mark to Liliw. |
Liliw is a little known town in Laguna located in the foothills of Mount Banahaw. This verdant small town was featured in local TV commercial of a detergent bar where women are washing clothes in the river banks. The town is also the home of vast forest lands inhabited by different species of plants and animals. Today, some of its forest land converted into residential areas. Therefore, Liliw is one of the ecotourist spots in southern Luzon because of its beautiful sceneries such as the lush meadows, verdant and tall mountains and the crystal-clear waters flowing from Banahaw.
Based on a legend, Liliw was named after Gat Tayaw, the datu of the town heard a sound of the bird in a bamboo pole, saying "liw, liw, liw." During the American colonization period, the name of the town was Lilio in order to have a proper pronunciation. The town was officially called "Liliw" in 1965.
The town is known as "Tsinelas Capital of Laguna" (Footwear Capital of Laguna) where it rivals of the shoe industry of Marikina City. There are lots of slippers, sandals, alpombra and shoes which are colorful and in good quality. These footwear are made of raw materials and designed with colorful and creative decorations. Aside from the fact that it is a home of footwear, the town is also popular for its local delicacies and sweets such as uraro (arrowroot cookies), polvoron, espasol, otap and lambanog (local wine made of coconut).
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| A large wooden sandal which can be seen from above. |
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Natives from Liliw are proven to be creative because they can create huge sandals in their stall
which earned the town's title "Tsinelas Capital of the Philippines." |
If you go around the town proper, you can enjoy the Filipino market scene because there are lots of local products sold from slippers, local delicacies up to fruits. You can also see the huge slippers in each stall and in Gat Tayaw Park. Just a walk away from the park, you can visit the St. John the Baptist Church. This Baroque church was built in 1605 and one of the Spanish era churches in the Laguna Loop. It is made up of bricks and one of the churches to visit during Visita Iglesia in Laguna. You can also enjoy excursion in Liliw through its clear rivers, lush forests and clean ambiance of the town.
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| The sturdy and colorful slippers and sandals of Liliw. (Matibay pa ang mga tsinelas na yan!) |
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| Lots of delicacies for a sweet tooth. |
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| Saint John the Baptist Church in Liliw, Laguna. |
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| From Liliw leading to the next town... |
How to get to Liliw, Laguna:
- You can take a jeepney from Sta. Cruz, Laguna to Liliw, passing the towns of Pagsanjan and Magdalena which lead you to the town proper. Also, you can ride a jeepney from San Pablo City to Liliw, passing the towns of Rizal and Nagcarlan.
You can also read my December 2011 post:
Navigating Laguna Loop - Liliw
Date of Travel: October 30, 2011 and November 6, 2011
