The Cagsawa Ruins, sometimes spelled as Kagsawa, are remnants of a historic Franciscan church from 16th century that is located in the Barangay Busay of the Municipality of Daraga in the Bicol Region, within the Republic of the Philippines.

The ruins were part of the once thriving town of Cagsawa that was followed by not so fortunate destiny. As a matter in fact, the town was originally built in 1587, but in 1636 it was burned down and destroyed by the Dutch pirates that were roaming in the area.

After a while, in 1724 Cagsawa was rebuilt by Fr. Francisco Blanco, but the destiny played a bit more with the small town and once again Cagsawa was destroyed, but this time with the eruption of the Mayon Volcano that occurred on 1 February 1814.

Some 1,200 people sought refuge in the stone-built church, nonetheless, as the eruption was the strongest ever recorded for the Mayon Volcano, it killed most of the locals in the vicinity.

Those that survived this quite powerful volcanic blast resettled nearby, as they considered this to be their home to which they are used to.

Still, from that period, the belfry of the church is all that remains, even though the church’s façade survived the eruption, but collapsed over time, and nowadays together with the rest of the destroyed and buried town, it is in the memory of those that remember that Cagsawa once existed.

Due to the cultural importance the ruins have, Cagsawa Ruins are one of the most popular tourist attractions in the Province, as well as in the nation, which is why they are protected in a park which is overseen by the municipal government of Daraga.

Ultimately presented as a symbol of the dangers of living in close proximity with the Mayon Volcano, Cagsawa Ruins are gaining constantly greater attention from the tourists that would like to explore something extra from this impressive nation in South-East Asia.

Deriba Caldera is a prominent caldera rim which is known to be the highest point of the vast Marrah Mountains, and it is located Darfur Province in the Republic of the Sudan.

With an elevation of 3,042 meters (9,980 feet) above the sea level, the double crater caldera became Sudan’s highest point when South Sudan proclaimed its independence in 2011.

This cauldron-like volcanic part of the nation is a geologically young volcanic structure, which together with the Marra Mountains is part of a large geologic feature known as the Darfur Dome.

Being between 5 and 8 km (3 and 5 mi) in diameter across the outer crater, the inner crater is a little bit more interesting since it has a crater lake.

Formed some 3,500 years ago during the time of the eruption of voluminous airfall pumice and pyroclastic flows that traveled more than 30 km (19 mi) from the volcano.

As the Marrah Mountains are a mountain range, the part where Deriba Caldera is located is named as Jebel Marra, and it covers a broad area of the range. Nowadays, the volcano is dormant, even though there are hot springs and fumaroles present in the area, still there are no precipitations that it will become an active one.

Definitely, with the last eruption, what we can see today is the evidence of the collapsed magma chamber which allowed for the caldera to be formed and everyone to be able to enjoy in its beauty.

Even though there is no clear information about whether people can go to the top and enjoy the amazing scenery, Deriba Caldera is certainly among the most interesting natural places with which Sudan can brag about.