A nearly 300-year-old settlement once submerged beneath a major dam in the Philippines has reemerged as sweltering heat and drought have dried up the reservoir.

Structures, including part of a church, tombstones and a municipal hall marker, reappeared in the middle of Pantabangan Dam in Nueva Ecija province in March after months of almost no rain, Marlon Paladin, a supervising engineer for the National Irrigation Administration, told AFP.

The area was deliberately flooded in the 1970s in the dam's construction. But a drought currently affecting about half of the country's provinces has pushed the dam's water levels down. When water levels drop, the ruins become a popular tourist attraction, according to AFP.

Paladin told AFP that this is the sixth time the settlement has resurfaced since the creation of the reservoir, but "this is the longest time [it was visible] based on my experience."

Like much of Southeast Asia, the Philippines has for the past several weeks been hit by scorching heat, leading schools to suspend classes after temperatures hit 42 degrees Celsius (107 degrees Fahrenheit).

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📷: Ezra Acayan/Getty Images