Cape Santiago ( es, Cabo Santiago, fil, Kabo Santiago) is the southwestern point of the island of

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 ...

located within the municipality of

Calatagan Calatagan, officially the Municipality of Calatagan ( tgl, Bayan ng Calatagan), is a 2nd class municipality in the province of Batangas, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 58,719 people. Calatagan comprises the Ca ...

Batangas Batangas, officially the Province of Batangas ( tl, Lalawigan ng Batangas ), is a province in the Philippines located in the Calabarzon region on Luzon. Its capital is the city of Batangas, and is bordered by the provinces of Cavite and La ...

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 ...

. It is a cape at the southern tip of Calatagan Peninsula which faces the

South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Phil ...

to the west and Pagapas Bay, an arm of

Balayan Bay Balayan Bay is a large bay of Luzon Island in the Philippines. It is part of the Verde Island Passage and its entire shore is in the province of Batangas. The bay is between wide. It is separated from the South China Sea to the west by the Calata ...

, to the east. The cape has been the site of a

navigational aid Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another.Bowditch, 2003:799. The field of navigation includes four general categories: land navigation, ...

since the 1890s. Cape Santiago is located about southwest of

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

. It is administratively part of the

barangay A barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as barrio (abbreviated as Bo.), is the smallest administrative division in the Philippines and is the native Filipino term for a village, district, or ward. In metropolitan ...

of Bagong Silang.

Geography

Cape Santiago is located about southeast of the Port of Calatagan where ferries bound for

Lubang Island Lubang Island is the largest island in the Lubang Group of Islands, an archipelago which lies to the northwest of the northern end of Mindoro in the Philippines. The Lubang Islands are about southwest of Manila. There are seven islands in the gro ...

operate. It is high, wooded, and fringed by a drying reef extending offshore. There are depths of at the edge of the reef, increasing steeply to more than deep about offshore. A dangerous coral rock lies southeast of the cape in the

Verde Island Passage The Verde Island Passage is a strait that separates the islands of Luzon and Mindoro in the Philippines, connecting the South China Sea with the Tayabas Bay and the Sibuyan Sea beyond. Traditionally, the sea lane has been one of the busiest in ...

known as Minerva Rock, named after an

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n ship that struck on it in 1834. A lighthouse marks a low rocky promontory about west-northwest of the south extremity of the cape. A conspicuous windmill stands about 0.4 mile east-southeast of the lighthouse.

Cape Santiago Lighthouse

The lighthouse at Cape Santiago is the oldest structure in Calatagan built in the 1890s during the

Spanish colonial period Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

. Made of brick and lime cement, this red round structure is tall modeled after the medieval castles in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. It is currently in a deteriorated condition with its original light source missing, replaced by an automatic light bulb donated by the

Japan International Cooperation Agency The is a governmental agency that delivers the bulk of Official Development Assistance (ODA) for the government of Japan. It is chartered with assisting economic and social growth in developing countries, and the promotion of international co ...

that is no longer being used due to lack of funding.

References

{{reflist Landforms of Batangas

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...