Mount Samat () is a mountain in the

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an o ...

Pilar, Bataan Pilar, officially the Municipality of Pilar ( tl, Bayan ng Pilar), is a 3rd class municipality in the province of Bataan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 46,239 people. The Bataan Government Center and the histo ...

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. Located near its summit is the

Mount Samat National Shrine Mount Samat National Shrine () or ''Dambana ng Kagitingan'' (Shrine of Valor) is a historical shrine located near the summit of Mount Samat in the town of Pilar, Province of Bataan, in the Republic of the Philippines. The memorial shrine complex ...

, a national

shrine A shrine ( la, scrinium "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred or holy space dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, daemon, or similar figure of respect, wherein they ...

dedicated to the fallen Filipino and American fallen during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Geology

Mount Samat is a parasitic cone of

Mount Mariveles Mount Mariveles is a dormant stratovolcano and the highest point in the province of Bataan in the Philippines. Mariveles and the adjacent Mount Natib comprise 80.9 percent of the total land area of the province.Redpen (2008-01-24)"Bataan Mountain ...

with no record of historical eruption. The summit of Mount Samat is NNE of the Mariveles

caldera A caldera ( ) is a large cauldron-like hollow that forms shortly after the emptying of a magma chamber in a volcano eruption. When large volumes of magma are erupted over a short time, structural support for the rock above the magma chamber is ...

. Mount Samat itself has a wide crater that opens to the northeast. The Mount Samat Cross is situated near the edge of the crater rim.

Historical significance

At the start of

in 1942 after suffering heavy losses against the

Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emper ...

all over

Luzon Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...

, the Filipino and American soldiers retreated to

Bataan Peninsula Bataan (), officially the Province of Bataan ( fil, Lalawigan ng Bataan ), is a province in the Central Luzon region of the Philippines. Its capital is the city of Balanga while Mariveles is the largest town in the province. Occupying the enti ...

to regroup for a last valiant but futile stand. After four months of fighting, the 78,000 exhausted, sick and starving soldiers under Major General

Edward P. King Edward Postell King Jr. (July 4, 1884 – August 31, 1958) was a major general in the United States Army who gained prominence for leading the defense of the Bataan Peninsula in the Battle of Bataan against the Japanese invasion of the Philippin ...

surrendered to the Japanese on April 9, 1942 known as the fall of Bataan. It is the single largest surrender of U.S. soldiers in history and

Mariveles Mariveles, officially the Municipality of Mariveles ( tl, Bayan ng Mariveles), is a first class municipality in the province of Bataan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 149,879 people. History Founded as a ''p ...

, a town in the Bataan province, was their last stronghold after which, together with the Philippine soldiers, they were led on to the march to

Capas, Tarlac Capas, officially the Municipality of Capas ( pam, Balen ning Capas; tgl, Bayan ng Capas), is a 1st class municipality in the province of Tarlac, Philippines, and one of the richest towns in the province. The town also consists of numerou ...

known as the

Bataan Death March The Bataan Death March ( Filipino: ''Martsa ng Kamatayan sa Bataan''; Spanish: ''Marcha de la muerte de Bataán'' ; Kapampangan: ''Martsa ning Kematayan quing Bataan''; Japanese: バターン死の行進, Hepburn: ''Batān Shi no Kōshin'') ...

. The

was erected as a memorial to the Filipino and American soldiers who fought against the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II.Government of Province of Bataan (2006
"Dambana ng Kagitingan"
. Bataan...A Raging Peninsula. Retrieved on 2011-03-27.

Dunsulan Falls

Dunsulan Falls () is a waterfall located at the foot of Mount Samat, northeast of the National Shrine in Brgy Liyang, also in Pilar town.
Pinoy Mountaineer. Retrieved on 2012-06-08. Dunsulan falls and river is the main

drainage Drainage is the natural or artificial removal of a surface's water and sub-surface water from an area with excess of water. The internal drainage of most agricultural soils is good enough to prevent severe waterlogging (anaerobic condition ...

on the crater side of Mount Samat.

Images

More Sceneries Along the Way to the Summit of Mt. Samat - panoramio.jpg, View from Mount Samat

References

External links

Photo of Dunsulan Falls
from Panoramio {{Authority control Landforms of Bataan Samat Volcanoes of Luzon Parasitic cones