Pasig Traditions:
The Legend of Dňa Geronima's Cave
The Legend of Dňa Geronima's Cave
There is a legend in Pasig about a woman called Dňa
Geronima who was heartbroken and lived in a cave
by the river.
According to research made by Noel Rivera, son of
distinguished painter and Pasigueňo Cenon Rivera
and presently consultant of the Pasig Museum, a
cave that could very well be “Dňa Geronima’s” was
found in the 1950’s by a group of Pasiguenos who
were interested in Pasig history and traditions. The
so-called “Pitong Matanda sa Nayon” (Seven Old Men
of the Village): Sixto Antonio, Demetrio Argosino,
Gregorio Coching, Manuel Gavieres, Mariano Lanting,
Eugenio Meneses and Pedro Tech found a cave by
the river side between two big companies, the Hi-
Cement Corporation and the Wellington Flour Mills.
Even then, the cave opening was already being used
used as a garbage dumping ground by residents.
No less than Jose Rizal, through a character named
Padre Florentino, recalled the Legend of Dňa
Geronima, in his second novel El Filibusterismo:
The museum now has in its collection some of the
items that the seven gentlemen found in the cave.
Geronima who was heartbroken and lived in a cave
by the river.
According to research made by Noel Rivera, son of
distinguished painter and Pasigueňo Cenon Rivera
and presently consultant of the Pasig Museum, a
cave that could very well be “Dňa Geronima’s” was
found in the 1950’s by a group of Pasiguenos who
were interested in Pasig history and traditions. The
so-called “Pitong Matanda sa Nayon” (Seven Old Men
of the Village): Sixto Antonio, Demetrio Argosino,
Gregorio Coching, Manuel Gavieres, Mariano Lanting,
Eugenio Meneses and Pedro Tech found a cave by
the river side between two big companies, the Hi-
Cement Corporation and the Wellington Flour Mills.
Even then, the cave opening was already being used
used as a garbage dumping ground by residents.
No less than Jose Rizal, through a character named
Padre Florentino, recalled the Legend of Dňa
Geronima, in his second novel El Filibusterismo:
The museum now has in its collection some of the
items that the seven gentlemen found in the cave.
Argosino donated a piece of clay aqueduct pipe, Tech and Coching gave their porcelain shards. The latter
also donated the most significant find in the cave then: a brass oil lamp called tingloy.
On September 10, 2004 Rivera, accompanied by Grecco Coching II and Antonio Miguel tried to locate the
cave but failed. Based on the recollection of Coching, the team went to J.P. Rizal St. near the old Gate 1 of
Fort Bonifacio, the area where the cave can be seen across the Pasig River from Makati. The cave is now a
wharf.
also donated the most significant find in the cave then: a brass oil lamp called tingloy.
On September 10, 2004 Rivera, accompanied by Grecco Coching II and Antonio Miguel tried to locate the
cave but failed. Based on the recollection of Coching, the team went to J.P. Rizal St. near the old Gate 1 of
Fort Bonifacio, the area where the cave can be seen across the Pasig River from Makati. The cave is now a
wharf.
| M. Reyes Roque, Last Updated 9May2006 Email Queries from students & researchers are welcome; including requests for enhanced quality pictures. |
Where is Dňa Geronima's Cave now? |
| Gregorio Coching poses at the entrance to a cave that could be Dňa Geronima's sometime in the 1950's* |
| Coching and his group of researchers found the cave by the Pasig River.* |
“Once upon a time, there was a student who had
made a promise of marriage to a young woman in
his country but it seems that he failed to
remember her. She waited for him faithfully year
after year, her youth passed, she grew into middle
age, and then one day she heard a report that her
old sweetheart was the Archbishop of Manila.
Disguising herself as a man, she came around the
Cape and presented herself before His Grace,
demanding the fulfillment of his promise. What
she asked was, of course impossible so the
Archbishop ordered the preparation of the cave
that you may have noticed with its entrance
covered and decorated with a curtain of vines.
There she lived and died and there she buried.
The legend states that Dña Geronima was so fat
that she had to turn sideways to get into it. Her
fame as an enchantress sprung from her custom
of throwing into the river the silver dishes, which
she used in sumptuous banquets that were
attended by crowds of gentlemen. The net was
spread under the water to hold the dishes and thus
they were cleaned.”
made a promise of marriage to a young woman in
his country but it seems that he failed to
remember her. She waited for him faithfully year
after year, her youth passed, she grew into middle
age, and then one day she heard a report that her
old sweetheart was the Archbishop of Manila.
Disguising herself as a man, she came around the
Cape and presented herself before His Grace,
demanding the fulfillment of his promise. What
she asked was, of course impossible so the
Archbishop ordered the preparation of the cave
that you may have noticed with its entrance
covered and decorated with a curtain of vines.
There she lived and died and there she buried.
The legend states that Dña Geronima was so fat
that she had to turn sideways to get into it. Her
fame as an enchantress sprung from her custom
of throwing into the river the silver dishes, which
she used in sumptuous banquets that were
attended by crowds of gentlemen. The net was
spread under the water to hold the dishes and thus
they were cleaned.”
| This brass lamp found by Coching can now be seen at the Pasig Museum.* |
| Present site of the former cave* |
| *Photos courtesy of Noel Rivera, consultant, Pasig City Museum |
