I’ve been to Marikina a couple of times before. Once was to eat at Pan de Amerikana and the second time was to visit the Marikina Shoe Museum.
Well, thanks to our resident Marikina tour guide, I recently found out about another interesting museum to visit when in Marikina – the Book Museum cum Ethnology Center.
This museum was built to house the collections of Atty Dominador Buhain of the REX Group of Companies who loved to travel a lot and I mean a lot! He’s been to every continent in the world – 221 countries and 76 provinces in the Philippines. Not a lot of people can say they’re that well-traveled! He’s even been gotten some awards to prove that.
Anyway in every country he visited, he collected books which you will find housed in this museum.
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| Nicely decorated facade of the book museum |
Here are some of the displays worth checking out inside the museum:
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| One of the world’s smallest book, Das “Kleinste Buch der Welt” from Germany |
That red book measures only 3.3 x 3.3 millimeter and it contains the Lord’s Prayer printed in 7 languages.
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| Miniature collection of Shakespeare’s works |
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Because the place is also an ethnology center, we were able to see the difference between the cultures of the ethnic groups from Luzon and Mindanao. Here are some of the interesting stuff from the Cordillera region:
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| This is a backpack |
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| A coffin |
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| This gives the term headhunter a completely different meaning – a creepier version if you ask me |
A visit to the other side of the ethnology museum will give you the impression of wealth and luxury – Mindanao ethnic groups culture is truly different.
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| Bukidnon guitar aka Kudyapi |
And did I mention that the owner is a fan of James Dean? They have plans to build a mini James Dean museum inside as well.
Entrance to the museum is only at Php100 for a group of 5. 80 for students, researchers, senior citizens and Marikina residents.
It’s a very nice place to visit. Could even inspire the wanderlust in you. Plus the ethnology center is a good place to learn more about the different tribe cultures in the Philippines.
The Book Museum and Ethnology Center
127 Dao Street, Marikina Height, Marikina City
Open: Tuesdays to Sundays, 9am-12nn and 1-6pm
Lux G.
Madami pa dn talagang magagandang lugar sa Pilipinas na hindi pa nadidiscover. I'm one of those who love exploring museums, so this is definitely a hit for me. Will visit the next time I swing by. 🙂
Anonymous
Another gem for Marikina. Definitely worth a visit, especially for book and travel lovers. I will certainly go there.
Ane
Oh my goodness, this looks like Disneyland for bookworms like me! So many places to visit so little time! I'm definitely going to make some time to visit this book museum when I find myself in the area! 🙂
Dear Hiraya
I think the last time I went to a museum was in high school which is more than a decade now. Reading this post reminds me of how my mind traveled each time I see a relic or any item inside a museum. I should've grabbed that opportunity when our National Museum opened their doors for free early this year (or was it late last year?).
Anyway, hopefully I could pay a visit to The Book Museum as well. They have very interesting stuff inside as shown in your photos specially those mini-books (Kleinste Buch der Welt and those collection of Shakespeare's works).
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