North of Legazpi, and standing at 8,075 feet (2,460m), Mayon and its near-perfect cone are truly spectacular sights. I'm not about to open up the debate to whether it is more symmetrical than Mt. Fuji.
Legend has it that a long time ago, there lived a very beautiful princess with her uncle, Magayon. His wrath and possessiveness were such that no man dared court the princess. One day, a brave warrior was so enraptured by the princess that he disregarded the danger and convinced her to run away with him. As they fled from the enraged uncle, the lovers prayed to the gods for help. In reply, the gods buried the pursuing uncle under a landslide and it is his rage bursting forth in the form of eruptions.
With 50 eruptions in the last 400 years, Mayon is the most active volcano in the Philippines. Its most destructive eruption occurred on February 1, 1814, and the lava flow buried the town of Cagsawa killing 1,200 people. The church bell tower is the only thing that remained. In fact, the ash flow was such that only the top was left exposed. The picture below shows a tree still growing at the top of the tower, where the soil level was. The tower was disinterred during the Marcos regime. Mayon’s most recent eruption was a recently as 2001.
At the Cagsawa Ruins Park you will also find a vendor stalls with varied handicrafts as well as a café.