Mount San Cristobal is a potentially active

stratovolcano A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a typically conical volcano built up by many alternating layers (strata) of hardened lava and tephra. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile with ...

at the boundary of the provinces of Laguna and

Quezon Quezon, officially the Province of Quezon () and historically known as Tayabas, is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Calabarzon Regions of the Philippines, region on Luzon. Lucena, a highly urbanized ci ...

on the island of

Luzon Luzon ( , ) is the largest and most populous List of islands in the Philippines, island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the List of islands of the Philippines, Philippine archipelago, it is the economic and political ce ...

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. The mountain rises to an elevation of

above mean sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...

and is one of the volcanic features of Macolod Corridor. Mount San Cristobal is considered the "Devil's Mountain" in Christian-influenced Filipino folklore. Although that was not always the case. The mountain was previously considered as a sacred site, along with

Mount Banahaw Mount Banahaw (; also spelled as Banahao and Banájao) is an active complex volcano on Luzon in the Philippines. The three-peaked volcano is located at the boundary of Laguna and Quezon provinces. It is the highest mountain in both provinces ...

, under the

indigenous Philippine folk religions Indigenous Philippine folk religions are the distinct native religions of various ethnic groups in the Philippines, where most follow belief systems in line with animism. These Indigenous folk religionsAlmocera, Ruel A., (2005) Popular Filipi ...

, where the two mountains are said to be protected by the native Tagalog deities. However, due to Spanish

colonization 475px, Map of the year each country achieved List of sovereign states by date of formation, independence. Colonization (British English: colonisation) is a process of establishing occupation of or control over foreign territories or peoples f ...

, the mountain's name was changed to "San Cristobal" in a bid to destroy its native origin. The Spanish began demonizing the native religions, which led to "Mount San Cristobal" being branded as the devil mountain by white Spanish colonizers. By the 20th century, due to Christian narratives, Mount San Cristobal was depicted as the so-called alter-ego of the Holy Mountain,

, which continues to be viewed today as sacred despite centuries of colonial influence. Both San Cristobal and Banahaw are part of the

Mounts Banahaw–San Cristobal Protected Landscape Mounts Banahaw–San Cristobal Protected Landscape is a protected landscape park in the Calabarzon region of the Philippines, south of Manila. It is the second largest protected area in Calabarzon, after the Upper Marikina River Basin Protected ...

, covering 10,901 hectares (26,940 acres) of land. The mountain is bordered by San Pablo in the province of Laguna at its northern slope and Dolores in the province of

at its southern slope. Seven Lakes of San Pablo

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:San Cristobal Mountains of the Philippines Volcanoes of Luzon Complex volcanoes Sacred mountains of the Philippines Landforms of Quezon Landforms of Laguna (province) Stratovolcanoes of the Philippines Potentially active volcanoes of the Philippines Folk Catholicism in the Philippines

See also

References

External links