The unfinished shell
Built for a visit that never came.
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A park on the summit of Mount Sungay, the highest point in Cavite province at 709 metres, built around the concrete shell of an unfinished mansion. Imelda Marcos began building it in 1981 to host a state visit by US President Ronald Reagan; when the visit was cancelled, work stopped, and the bare skeleton was left as it stood. After the fall of the Marcos regime in 1986, the site was turned into a public park named the People's Park, so the palace built for the elite became open to everyone. Today you walk among the columns and unfinished walls and see traces of floors that were never built. The main reason to come is the view: from the top you see Taal Lake and the volcano on one side and, on clear days, Manila Bay and Laguna de Bay on the other. The site also holds a weather radar station and a small shrine. The road to the top is steep and winding, the air is cooler than at the foot of the mountain, and mist can wrap the summit. Come in the morning on a clear day, as visibility drops in the afternoon.
Built for a visit that never came.
Taal Lake and volcano.
Sometimes wraps the top.
Summit of Mount Sungay, eastern end of the Tagaytay ridge
It is a mansion Imelda Marcos began in 1981 to host President Reagan; work stopped when the visit was cancelled, and the shell became a public park after Marcos fell in 1986.