01/10/2021
Taal, officially the Municipality of Taal (Bayan ng Taal), is a 3rd class municipality in the province of Batangas, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 61,460 people.
Taal is famous for its old ancestral houses, one particular ancestral house (now a museum) where Marcela Coronel Mariño de Agoncillo grew up in Taal, Batangas built in the 1770s by her grandparents, Don Andres Sauza Mariño and Doña Eugenia Diokno Mariño, (added by Slavstan Mariño). Its poblacion (central business district) is designated as a National Historical Landmark.The municipality is known as the Balisong and Barong Tagalog Capital of the Philippines. The town is home to hundreds of heritage structures dating from the Spanish colonial period. Scholars have been pushing for its inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The town of Taal was founded by Augustinian friars in 1572. In 1575, the town transferred later to the edge of Domingo lake, now Taal Lake in 1575. In 1754, Taal Volcano erupted endangering the town of Taal which stood at present day San Nicolas. Threatened by the new danger, the townspeople, together with the Augustinian Francisco Benchucillo, sought refuge in the sanctuary of Caysasay.
In 1955 the northern barrios of San Nicolas, Gipit, Bangin, Pansipit, Calangay, Sinturisan, Talang, Abilo, Balete, Bancora, Saimsim, Maabud, Mulawin, Tambo, Calumala, Alasas, Calawit, and Pulangbato were separated from Taal and formed into the municipality of San Nicolas.
