Juan and Antonio Luna Museum - Ilocos Norte

Located in Barangay Garreta in the town of Badoc in Ilocos Norte, Juan and Antonio Luna Museum is the two-story ancestral home of the Luna clan which presently serves as a museum for the Luna brothers.

Juan and Antonio Luna Museum

Juan and Antonio Luna Museum History:

Built sometime in the early 19th century, the ancestral house of the Lunas is a typical Bahay na Tisa which was common particularly to the middle and upper-class society during the Spanish colonial period. Sadly, the original structure was damaged by fire in 1861. The house was then ceded to the government in 1954. The Department of Public Works and Highways and the National Historical Institute completed its restoration in 1977. The house then became a museum for the Luna brothers. The museum got some technological upgrades last 2016 with the installation of touch screen TVs and the face projector which projects Antonio Luna's speaking head. 
Juan and Antonio Luna Museum - Badoc, Ilocos Norte

Welcome to the Luna Museum

Juan and Antonio Luna House NHC Marker

Juan Luna Birthplace NHC Marker

The Luna Brothers

Juan on the left and Antonio on the right

To date, the museum has six galleries. These galleries are:

Gallery 1: Life and Career of Juan Luna

Gallery 2: Juan's Studio in Paris

Gallery 3: Life and Career of Antonio Luna

Gallery 4: The Luna Home in the 19th Century

Gallery 5: Antonio's Letter to Conchita Castillo

Gallery 6: Trench Warfare

For my foreign readers, here's a quick history lesson about the Luna brothers:

Juan and Antonio Luna are both known for their participation in the struggle for Philippine Independence. Each has his own unique contribution to this cause and is both considered heroes in the Philippines. 
Juan Luna

 Juan, the older of the two, became a world-class painter when he was in Europe. There, he joined other illustrados in the propaganda movement who were calling for reforms for their Motherland. In 1896, a few years after his return to the Philippines, he and his younger brother Antonio were imprisoned for being suspected of having any involvement in the Katipunan, a group pushing for armed revolution. He was eventually released and served as a diplomatic agent in France for the Philippine Revolutionary Government. He died of a heart attack in Hong Kong on the 7th of Dec. 1899.
Antonio Luna

Antonio studied as a pharmacist, he also joined the illustrados in Europe. As a propagandist, he campaigned for reforms through his political writings for the reformist periodical, La Solidaridad under the pen name Taga-Ilog. Together with his brother, they returned to the Philippines in 1894. He was also imprisoned in 1896 after being implicated in the armed revolution. After his release, he went back to Europe to study military science in Belgium. Upon his timely return, he served in Emilio Aguinaldo's army. This time against a new enemy, the Americans. He was considered, even by the enemy, as a very talented and disciplined general, but he was very strict and bad-tempered. He does not think twice about punishing erring troops. Due to this and the politics inside the unstable Philippine Revolutionary Government, he was assassinated by fellow Filipino soldiers in June 1899. His life was portrayed in the hit 2015 movie Heneral Luna.
A replica of Antonio Luna's military cap

Badoc, ilocos Norte
A replica of Juan Luna's Parisian Life

Some of Juan's palates

A replica of Luna's portrait

A replica of the Spoliarium

I got to visit the Juan and Antonio Luna Museum last December 2017 during our Ilocos Sur - Ilocos Norte family road trip. I was actually very eager to see the museum as I missed visiting it during my 2011 Ilocos backpacking trip with my wife. Aside from that, I was really hyped to see what personal paraphernalia of the two brothers (particularly Antonio) was on display in the museum. I was a bit disappointed as many of the things in the house were mere replicas. Then again, visiting the house gave me a sense of connection to the life and works of the two heroes. 
You can visit the historical Nuestra Virgen Milagrosa de Badoc church after

Team Nicerio and family visits Juan and Antonio Luna Museum

Juan and Antonio Luna Museum Admission Fee:

Good news! The Juan and Antonio Luna Museum is FREE of any admission fees. You may give donations though. This will be used to maintain the museum.

Juan and Antonio Luna Museum Opening Hours:

The Juan and Antonio Luna Museum is open every Tuesday - Sunday, 8AM -4PM.
The museum is closed on Mondays.

Why visit Juan and Antonio Luna Museum?

Overall, the Juan and Antonio Luna Museum presents a good side trip for those visiting Ilocos Norte. History lovers and fans of the film Heneral Luna would surely enjoy visiting this place. Aside from the learnings that you'd get about Juan and Antonio's lives, the museum does not charge any admission fees so it's totally worth the visit. 

 Getting to Juan and Antonio Luna Museum:


 From Cubao, ride a bus heading to Laoag City. Tell the conductor to drop you off at the nearest road going to Badoc town proper. From there, one can ride a tricycle to the museum.

 Ratings:
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Location: Rizal Street, Badoc, Ilocos Norte, Philippines

Comments

  1. Sumit waliaJanuary 21, 2018 at 2:17 AM

    thanks for writing about the life in brief of the Luna brothers , it helped me to relate to the article itself , such a diverse occupation both the brothers had and such a diverse end they both finally drifted to ... quite interesting

    ReplyDelete
  2. Harini JayaramanJanuary 21, 2018 at 10:57 AM

    I particularly like that steel palette model.This museum looks so beautiful and realistic and the pictures captivated my attention,couldn't stop gazing at them throughout the post

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousJanuary 11, 2023 at 11:09 AM

    My great grandfather was Amoroso Ilustrisimo Luna from which I gather, just researching famil
    y history. I am from
    Hawaii

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousMay 29, 2023 at 8:12 AM

    Maraming salamat sa super informative na article sir.

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousAugust 21, 2023 at 10:35 PM

    Thank you so much for the info! We'll go there next weekend po and your blog is a big help. :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousSeptember 5, 2023 at 7:35 AM

    Maraming salamat sa pagsulat tungkol sa museo namin dito sa bayan. More power to you sir!

    ReplyDelete

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