Calamba Claypot

The giant claypot landmark in front of the parish church

A four-metre-high stone-and-mortar claypot, painted brick red, that sits on a platform in the plaza in front of the parish church. The surface is decorated with the names of all Calamba's barangays (neighbourhoods). Officially named the Banga ng Calamba, it is the city's most photographed landmark and a useful navigation point — most local jeepneys end up routing past it at some point.

A short stop, but a charming one. Easy to combine with the church and the Rizal Shrine, all within two minutes of each other on foot.

things to do sight
A story
The city's name comes from *kalan-banga* — *kalan* meaning stove, *banga* meaning claypot — after a colonial-era misunderstanding when a Spanish friar asked a local woman the name of the place and she, thinking he was asking about the pots she was carrying, replied "kalan-banga". The story is almost certainly apocryphal, but the giant claypot built in 1939 commemorates it anyway.