Plaza Cuartel

Puerto Princesa


Behind the Immaculate Concepcion Cathedral (c 1872), this restored WWII garrison is the site of an open-air war museum and shrine to American prisoners of war burned alive here by the Japanese on 14 December 1944 – an incident known as the Palawan Massacre. Only 11 of the 154 survived.

Large placards display photos of the war years and outline Palawan's strategically important role in WWII.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Puerto Princesa attractions

1. Palawan Museum

0.47 MILES

Housed in the old City Hall building adjacent to Mendoza Park, this newly modernised museum has two floors of exhibits about the ethnological and…

2. Palawan Heritage Center

0.94 MILES

This museum has touch-screen videos and a hologram that outline Palawan’s history and explain contemporary economic and environmental challenges. There's…

3. Environmental Enforcement Museum

1.84 MILES

In the Pasyar Travel & Tours complex, this is a worthy and important museum that displays confiscated chainsaws, boats, dynamite and (sometimes) animals…

4. World War II Museum

2.48 MILES

Just east of the centre, this is an interesting, privately owned museum set up by Eugenio Mendoza, whose father was a member of the Fighting 1000, a group…

7. Iwahig Prison & Penal Farm

4.89 MILES

About 15km from Puerto, this penal colony invites visitors to drop in and mingle with the prisoners. In the gymnasium of the central compound, inmates…

8. Nagtabon Beach

14.58 MILES

This beach, on the northern side of the isthmus, has several hundred metres of white sand and shallow water good for swimming. Jeepneys from San Jose…