Sagada

Hundreds of hanging coffins on cliffs and caves in the Philippines

The people of Sagada follow a unique burial ritual. The elderly carve their own coffins out of hollowed logs and if they are too weak or ill, their family prepares the coffin instead. The dead are placed inside the coffin (sometimes breaking their bones in the process of fitting them) and the coffin is brought to a cave for burial.

Instead of being placed into the ground, the coffins are hung either inside the caves or on the face of the cliffs, near the hanging coffins of their ancestors. The Sagada people have been practicing such burials for over 2000 years, and some of the coffins are well over a century old. Eventually the coffins deteriorate and fall from their precarious positions. Of course, there is always a steady stream of new arivals to replace them.

Many of the locations of the coffins are difficult to reach, (and obviously should be left alone out of respect) but can be appreciated from afar.