Nueva Vizcaya : Roaming Cagayan Valley's 2nd Oldest Province

This post is part of my Nueva Vizcaya Series chronicling my 2013 and 2015 visits to the province. To see other towns, refer to the linked list after the article.

At the start, the whole of the present-day Cagayan Valley Region was just a single vast province known as Cagayan. The first ever division of the province happened when its southern part, from Ilagan down to Aritao, was separated and created into a new province in 1841, paving the way for the birth of the great province of NUEVA VIZCAYA.

Nueva Vizcaya Provincial Capitol

The Nueva Vizcaya of old was a very large province but through the passage of time, it lost many of its territories starting from the creation of the province of Isabela in 1856 (almost half of Isabela province came from the northeastern territories of Nueva Vizcaya) until the separation of Quirino Province in 1971. Now, the province is left with only 15 municipalities, with a total population of 421,355 as of 2010.

Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya

This post is part of my Nueva Vizcaya Series chronicling my 2013 and 2015 visits to the province. To see other towns, refer to the linked list after the article.

Nueva Vizcaya People's Museum and Library. Bayombong.

The gigantic province of Nueva Vizcaya of the 19th Century has Echague (now a part of Isabela) as its capital. By the time Isabela province was created in 1865, the capital was transferred to Bayombong. The town remained the capital even when Nueva Vizcaya lost some of its northwestern territories when Ifugao province was organized in 1908, and again when finally, Quirino province split from Nueva Vizcaya in 1971. Today, Bayombong still functions as the heart of the now smaller province of Nueva Vizcaya culturally, geographically and politically. 

Bagabag, Nueva Vizcaya

This post is part of my Nueva Vizcaya Series chronicling my 2013 and 2015 visits to the province. To see other towns, refer to the linked list after the article.

Many people know that when the bus they are riding reached Bagabag Junction in Nueva Vizcaya (even without actually knowing that that junction is called as such), they are almost at the vicinity of the Cordillera Region. This Maharlika Highway junction which is a part of Bagabag town leads to the provinces of Ifugao and Mountain Province, and serves as a landmark for travelers telling them that they are already nearing their destination, which may be any of the famous Cordilleran towns of Sagada, Bontoc, or Banaue. Little did they know that the town where the junction is located is actually worthy of a stop-over or even a side trip. 

Famous Pancit Buko of Bagabag

Bambang, Nueva Vizcaya

This post is part of my Nueva Vizcaya Series chronicling my 2013 and 2015 visits to the province. To see other towns, refer to the linked list after the article.

Saint Catherine of Siena Church. Bambang Church.

Bambang can be considered as the center of the province of Nueva Vizcaya as far as geography is concerned, more centrally located than the province's capital, Bayombong. This town shares history with its neighbor towns of Bayombong, Kayapa, and Aritao as they were all part of a single mission called Ytuy established by the Dominicans in 1609.

Dupax del Sur, Nueva Vizcaya

Dupax del Sur Church and Convent

Dupax del Sur is the remnant of the once large and single municipality of Dupax, the largest municipality of Nueva Vizcaya during the time it was still undivided. In 1971, Dupax was divided into two which gave birth to Dupax del Norte and Dupax del Sur, the latter retaining the seat of the old Dupax town. In 1979, further division was made when the southern barangays and sitios of both towns where merged and made into another municipality now known as Alfonso Castaneda. In the end, all the antiquity that the old Dupax has was passed on to Dupax del Sur.