RIZAL INTERACTIVE
Test your knowledge

Places that
widened the world.

A birthplace, a university city, a printing house, a place of exile, and a public park. Each site carries a different relationship to the historical record.

Saint John the Baptist Parish Church in Calamba, Laguna
Saint John the Baptist Parish Church, Calamba. Rizal was baptized here in 1861. Ralff Nestor Nacor, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

What a place
can and cannot show.

A photograph of a shrine today does not show the house Rizal knew. A plaque marks a connection; it does not prove what happened in every room. Read the caption as carefully as the image.

1861–1882

Calamba

The family house and the parish church anchor the beginning. The shrine is a reconstruction of the ancestral home; the church is the older institution in which Rizal was baptized.

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The Rizal Shrine in Calamba, Laguna
The Rizal Shrine in Calamba, a reconstruction of the family house where Rizal was born.Ralff Nestor Nacor, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Saint John the Baptist Parish Church in Calamba, Laguna
Saint John the Baptist Parish Church, Calamba. Rizal was baptized here in 1861.Ralff Nestor Nacor, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
1872–1882; 1892; 1896

Manila

Schooling at Ateneo and Santo Tomas, the founding of La Liga Filipina in Tondo, imprisonment in Fort Santiago, and trial. Historical photos preserve the 19th-century cityscape.

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Historical photograph of the Ateneo Municipal de Manila in Intramuros
The original Ateneo Municipal in Intramuros, where Rizal studied and graduated with highest honors in 1877.Historical photograph, late 19th century. Public domain.
The prison cell of José Rizal inside Fort Santiago
The prison cell in Fort Santiago where Rizal was confined in late 1896 and penned Mi Último Adiós.Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Puente de España crossing the Pasig River in 19th-century Manila
Puente de España over the Pasig River, connecting Intramuros with Binondo.Historical photograph, c. 1880s. Public domain.
1882–1885

Madrid

University studies along Calle San Bernardo and Filipino expatriate circles. The group portrait shows Rizal with Del Pilar and fellow reformers in the Spanish capital.

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Universidad Central de Madrid, Calle San Bernardo
Universidad Central de Madrid on Calle San Bernardo, where Rizal earned his degrees in Medicine and Philosophy (1882–1885).Historical photograph, Madrid. Public domain.
Group portrait of José Rizal, Marcelo del Pilar and other Filipinos in Madrid
Rizal (centre) with Marcelo del Pilar and other Filipino expatriates in Madrid.Unknown photographer, late nineteenth century. Public domain.
Portrait of Pedro Alejandro Paterno
Pedro Alejandro Paterno, author of Nínay (1885) and host of Filipino gatherings in Madrid.Jose N. Sevilla, Mga Dakilang Pilipino (1922). Public domain.
1885–1886; 1889

Paris

Ophthalmology training with Louis de Wecker and the creative circle of “Los Indios Bravos” at Juan Luna’s studio at 65 boulevard Arago during the 1889 Universal Exposition.

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José Rizal, Juan Luna, and Valentin Ventura in Luna’s Paris studio
Los Indios Bravos: José Rizal, Juan Luna, and Valentin Ventura in Luna’s Paris studio, c. 1889.Photograph, c. 1889. Public domain.
Portrait of painter Juan Luna
Juan Luna, master painter of Spoliarium and close companion of Rizal in Europe.Pascual Poblete, Buhay at Mga Ginawa ni Dr. Jose Rizal (1909). Public domain.
Spoliarium, oil painting by Juan Luna, 1884
Juan Luna’s monumental canvas Spoliarium, awarded the first gold medal at the 1884 Madrid Exposición Nacional.Juan Luna, 1884. National Museum of Fine Arts, Manila. Public domain.
1886

Heidelberg & Wilhelmsfeld

Ophthalmological studies at the University of Heidelberg and quiet writing in the vicarage of Pastor Karl Ullmer in nearby Wilhelmsfeld, where he finished Noli Me Tangere.

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Aerial view of Heidelberg’s old town and castle
Heidelberg: old town and castle above the Neckar, where Rizal studied ophthalmology in 1886.Schlurcher, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Statue of José Rizal at Jose Rizal Park in Wilhelmsfeld, Germany
Bronze statue of Rizal in Wilhelmsfeld, Germany, where he finished writing Noli Me Tangere in 1886.Photograph, Sep 2019, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
1887

Berlin

Publication city of Noli Me Tangere. Dr. Máximo Viola financed the printing of 2,000 copies at Berliner Buchdruckerei in March 1887.

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Cover of the 1887 Berlin first edition of Noli Me Tangere
The genuine 1887 Berlin first edition cover of Noli Me Tangere, printed by Berliner Buchdruckerei.José Rizal, 1887. Berliner Buchdruckerei-Actien-Gesellschaft. Public domain.
Portrait of Dr. Máximo Viola
Dr. Máximo Viola, Rizal’s friend and the financier who helped publish Noli Me Tangere in Berlin.Portrait via Geni / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
1891

Ghent

Publication city of El Filibusterismo. Rizal lived on sparse rations in Henegouwenstraat to pay printer F. Meyer-Van Loo for the novel’s release.

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Memorial plaque for José Rizal in Ghent
The Rizal plaque in Ghent, marking the city where El Filibusterismo was printed.Paul Drieghe, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Facsimile cover of El Filibusterismo, 1891
A facsimile of the 1891 El Filibusterismo cover. The novel was printed in Ghent.José Rizal, 1891. Public domain.
1891–1892

Hong Kong

Rizal operated a successful ophthalmology clinic at 5 D’Aguilar Street, reuniting with family members exiled from Calamba before returning to Manila.

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Ophthalmologist business card of Dr. José Rizal from Hong Kong
Rizal’s ophthalmologist business card from Hong Kong, a document of working life in exile.José Rizal, late nineteenth century. Free Art License.
1892–1896

Dapitan

Four years of remote exile turned into community medicine, a tuition-free school for boys, an outdoor relief map, and ecological research.

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Outdoor relief map of Mindanao sculpted by José Rizal in Dapitan
The relief map of Mindanao sculpted by Rizal in the town plaza of Dapitan in 1892.Ralff Nestor Nacor, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Casa Redonda, the octagonal clinic of José Rizal at Talisay, Dapitan
Casa Redonda, the octagonal clinic and dormitory built by Rizal at his Talisay estate in Dapitan.Ralff Nestor Nacor, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Casa Cuadrada, the schoolhouse and boys’ dormitory in Dapitan
Casa Cuadrada, the schoolhouse and workshop where Rizal taught local boys without tuition.Shakira S. Sison, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
December 30, 1896

Bagumbayan

Place of martyrdom. The bronze diorama, the 1913 national monument, and the secret burial plot at Paco Park record how memory was inscribed on the capital.

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Dioramic life-sized bronze sculptures depicting the execution of José Rizal at Rizal Park
The life-size bronze sculptural tableau by Eduardo Castrillo at Bagumbayan (Rizal Park), Manila.Ralff Nestor Nacor, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
The Rizal Monument in Manila photographed in 2024
The same monument in 2024: national memory is also a maintenance project.Ernest Malsin, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
José Rizal memorial grave at Paco Park, Manila
Paco Cemetery (now Paco Park), Manila: Rizal’s secret burial site immediately following his execution in 1896.Patrick Roque, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Present-day photographs are included to make the exhibition visual, not to imply that the current structure is the historical one. Check local opening hours and access rules before visiting.

Map the journey

The interactive map places these sites on a world map with the same sourced notes and approximate coordinates.

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