Manila is located on the eastern shore of the Manila Bay and covers an area of 38.55 square kilometers. The Pasig River divides the city into two parts. Most of the inhabitants live in coastal areas less than 10 meters above sea level. This makes Manila the world's most vulnerable megacity, with sea levels rising by 80 centimeters since 1967.

The city is surrounded by the towns and municipalities of the Manila Metro: Navotas City, Caloocan City, Malabon City and Valenzuela City in the north, Quezon City and Marikina City in the north-east, San Juan, Pasig City and Mandaluyong City in the east, Makati and Pateros in the south-east, and Pasay, Taguig and Parañaque City in the south. Quezon City is the largest, most populous (2.9 million inhabitants in 2015) and richest city in metro Manila.

There are three different definitions for the metropolitan area of Manila:

• National Capital Region (NCR) or Metro Manila: It includes the 14 districts of the capital and a further 16 municipalities. Metro Manila is also a district on the main Philippine island of Luzon. The NCR covers an area of 636 square kilometers.
• Greater Manila Area (GMA): This area includes the 17 municipalities of Metro Manila and the provinces of Bulacan, Rizal, Laguna and Cavite. The GMA covers an area of 7,627 square kilometers.
• Mega Manila Region (MMR.): It includes the 17 municipalities of Metro Manila, the seven provinces of Central Luzon District and the five provinces of CALABARZON District. The MMR. covers an area of 38,544 square kilometers.

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Panorama of Manila

city

Manila is divided into 897 Baranggays (small political entities formerly known as Barrio). These bargays are divided into 100 zones in 14 districts. Seven of them lie north of the Pasim: Binondo, Quiapo, Sampaloc, San Miguel, San Nicolas, Santa Cruz and Tondo. The remaining seven districts are located in the south of the river: Ermita, Intramuros, Malate, Paco, Pandacan, Port Area and Santa Ana.

Two other areas are officially designated as districts: Santa Mesa in Sampaloc and San Andres Bukid in Santa Ana. The Binondo district is considered the Chinatown of the city. Tondo is the poorest area in the city, while the districts of Ermita and Malate are very popular with tourists because of the many bars, restaurants and shopping centers. Manila remains divided into six congressional constituencies; each district shall send a representative to the House of Representatives of the Philippines.

The following population figures refer to the census (Census) of 1 September 1995, 1 May 2000 and 1 August 2007.

Map of Manila

Source: National Statistics Office

climate

Manila is located in the alternating tropics, with an annual average temperature of 26.7 degrees Celsius and fluctuating by just four degrees Celsius during the year. From January to April, there is a humid climate, from May to December.

On average, precipitation falls in a year of 2069 millimeters, almost three-quarters of it in June-September alone, when Manila is within the reach of the Southwest Monsoon. Heavy rainfall leads to frequent floods during the monsoon.

typhoon

Typhoons often also look for the city. Typhoons are among the most severe natural disasters in Manila. They often cause severe destruction with numerous deaths. Serious damage is caused not only by the high wind power but also by the often very heavy rainfall in the shortest possible time, which leads to floods.

On 26 September 2009, typhoon "Ketsana" (called "Ondoy" in the Philippines) in Metro Manila led to the most severe floods in 42 years. At least 337 people died, about 80% of the city was under water. According to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), rainfall of 455 millimeters fell within 24 hours - the highest in history. The previous record value was measured on June 7, 1967 at 334.5 millimeters in the same period.

On September 26, 2009, Metro Manila suffered the highest rainfall in history

pre-colonial time

The city was founded after the war against the Sultanate of Brunei under Sultan Bolkiah was lost in 1500. The capital of Luzon, Tondo, was taken by the Sultanate in military terms because of its favorable economic position. As a sign of the triumph, the Sultanate founded a new city on the opposite shore of Tondo. This was officially snugget (trad. Bay: ᜐᜒ ᜎᜓ ᜇᜓ / kol. Bay: ᜐᜒ ᜎᜓ ᜇᜓ ᜅ᜔), translated capital. However, she was more known under her civil name Maynilad. The nephew Bolkiahs, Lontok, from then on known as Gat Lontok, became the ruler of this city-state, which with city walls and Lantaka (trad. Bay: ᜎ ᜆ ᜃ/ kol Bay: ᜎ ᜆ ᜈ᜔), Asian cannons.

Although King Luzon was allowed to continue in office, his political power was shaken in its foundations. That's why the noble house Namayan (trad. Bay: ᜈ ᜋ ᜌ/ kol Bay: ᜈ ᜋ ᜌ ᜈ᜔), also known as Sapa (Bay: ᜐ ᜉ). In 1157, the house had reached a peak and saw the king's weakness as a way to regain power. Accordingly, three royal houses, the house Tondo, the house Maynilad, or house Seludung, and the house Namayan, were ruled in today's Manila.

The original Manila itself was initially a Muslim sultanate at the mouth of the Pasig on the banks of the Manila Bay. The name comes from the term maynilad (traditional Baybayin: ᜋ ᜈᜒ ᜎ/ colonial Baybayin: ᜋ ᜌ᜔ ᜈᜒ ᜇ᜔), literally "There is Nilad." ("may" = "Here there is," Nilad is a white-flowered mangrove plant that grows in many parts of the area). Since end consonants are not written in traditional Baybayin, the Spanish thought the city was not called Maynilad, but Manila.

In the mid-16th century, Manila was a flourishing settlement. At the time of the arrival of the Spaniards, the large Tagalog community, which was located in the southern part of the Pasig, was ruled by both Rajah Sulayman, from Seludung, Rajah Matanda, from Sapa, and Rajah Lakan Dula, from Tondo.

When Spanish conqueror Miguel López de Legazpi heard of Manila's wealth on Cebu Island, he sent Lieutenant Martín de Goiti and Commander Juan de Salcedo to the north to explore the area. At the end of 1569, 300 soldiers, cavalrymen and some locals left Cebu and went on an expedition. The Spaniards first explored the islands of Panay and Mindoro to the north. They were in conflict with Chinese traders and pirates. Goiti and Salcedo finally defeated the Chinese and founded the first Spanish settlements on these islands.

On May 8, 1570, the Spaniards reached Manila. Impressed by the size of the harbor, they walked ashore at the Manila Bay. The soldiers were received friendly by Muslim residents. They finally camped there for a couple of weeks, deceiving the Muslim king Rajah Sulayman of an alliance. They pretended to the king that they wanted to stay in Manila only temporarily, but this was not in accordance with their actual intentions.

On May 24, 1570, after numerous battles between the two groups, the Spanish troops marched to the Muslim settlements in Tondo. The heavily armed Spaniards eventually defeated the Muslim population and then conquered the region. The Manila settlement fell into the hands of the Spaniards on June 6, 1570 and burned to the ground.

Early Spanish period

Fort Santiago from 1570

As a result of this defeat, all three rulers fell into the hands of Martín de Goiti and became prisoners of the Spanish Conquistador. As a result, the leaders converted to Roman Catholic faith. They regained their privileges, were integrated into the colonial regime, and then governed under Spanish control.

In 1571, Legazpi came to Manila and founded a council with the help of the former local rulers. The fortified Spanish old town of Manila, called Intramuros, was built in the same place as the old Muslim fortress. Manila became the capital of the new Philippine colony on June 24, 1571, and Legazpi became its first governor.

Pope Gregor XIII built in 1579. the diocese of Manila, the Pope Clemens VIII. In 1595 he became Archbishop. Since then, Manila has been the seat of the (Archbishops) bishops of the (Archduke) bishop of Manila. Catholicism blended with pre-Spanish traditions. The missionaries also used the old Baybayin script to spread Christian texts. In 1603, Chinese citizens rebellion against Spanish rule ended with the extinction of the entire Chinese colony in the city, killing 20,000 people. In 1611 the Universidad de Santo Tomas was opened in Manila as the oldest Catholic university in Asia.

the heyday of administration and business

Local chieftains were involved in a kind of indirect rule in the mission and administration. They created the so-called principalía, a rural local ruling class with corresponding privileges. The Spanish leadership of the colony was mainly in Manila and left the countryside administration largely to the local principalia and the Spanish priests and monks on the ground.

The main source of income for Spain was trade, because Manila was an important trading station between China and today's Mexico, then the largest region of the viceroy of New Zealand in Central America. The mercantilist galley trade (Manila Galeone) between Manila and Acapulco, which started in 1565 and continued until 1813, brought many Chinese to Manila as traders. In addition, close relations with Mexico were established through the trade in galons and the administrative association of the region with the Viceroy of New Spain.

Once a year, the galleons brought mainly silver bars and coins from Mexico, while Chinese goods, mainly silk and other textiles, were taken back to Mexico. Each year, around 50 tons of silver were shipped from Acapulco to Manila, which found its way to China as a means of payment for Chinese goods. That is why galeons have often been attacked by English and Dutch freebooters, sometimes successfully.

decline of Spanish rule

Map of Manila 1851

In 1762, Spain joined the seven-year war (1756-1763) alongside France against Britain. The British invasion of the Philippines followed. On October 6, 1762, British troops and soldiers from the British East India Company and Indian Sepoys conquered Manila after twelve days of siege. The subsequent Spanish opposition to the British occupation was organized by Governor Simón de Anda, who had his headquarters in Bacolor. With the Paris peace treaty, which ended the war, Spain was returned to Manila in May 1764. Spain had lost prestige because of its defeat of the British troops; This was the beginning of the decline of Spanish rule and the beginning of England's rise as a maritime power in the Pacific.

Mexico became independent in 1821. The Philippines, which until then had been administered as part of the Viceroy Kingdom of Mexico, was now directly managed by the Spanish authorities. In 1822, a revolt of Spanish Creole soldiers of Mexican origin was held in Manila, opposing a disarmament order issued by the colonial government. The Creole were the first to call themselves Filipinos. a term later used for all inhabitants of the archipelago.

American colonial

Battle in Manila Bay on 1 May 1898

Spanish guns in Intramuros 1902

On April 25, 1898, the United States declared war on Spain. The Spanish-American War was about US control of Spain's remaining colonial territories and access to Asian markets over the Philippines. On May 1, 1898, the outdated Spanish fleet was destroyed in the battle in Manila Bay by the modern US fleet under Commodore George Dewey in just a few hours.

After Dewey's victory, a blockade was imposed on the Manila Bay. However, warships from Britain, France, Germany and Japan came into the Manila Bay. The German contingent was larger than that of the US until June 12, when Admiral Otto von Diederichs arrived in Manila. There was provocation between the Americans and the Germans. Only when the British stood alongside the US did the German ships withdraw.

On June 12, 1898, the Philippines declared itself independent and appointed Emilio Aguinaldo as president. This took place in Malolos, the present capital of the province of Bulacan, as large parts of Manila were still under Spanish control. In July, the Filipinos besieged the fortified Spanish city of Manila, called Intramuros. The Spaniards refused to surrender, however, because they had orders to do so only against the Americans.

On August 13, 1898, an American attack on Intramuros took place. Aguinaldo's followers helped in the battle for Manila, but his troops were not allowed to enter the fortified city. On August 14, 1898, the Spaniards surrendered, and the US announced the establishment of a military government. In December 1898, the Paris Treaty, also known as the Paris Treaty, handed over the Philippines to the US.

On February 4, 1899, American soldiers shot a Filipino soldier who crossed a bridge in Manila's controlled territory. This was the beginning of the Philippine-American War. During the battle over Manila, American troops succeeded in subjugating the region and building a colonial rule that lasted until the Japanese occupation of Manila in World War II. In 1899, members of the Schurman Commission met in Manila to develop proposals for a rapid transition to civilian colonial rule. These proposals were implemented by the Taft Commission in 1900 and 1901, with the two Commissions each based in Manila.

World War II

The Cavite Marina near Manila burns, December 10, 1941

The destruction of Manila in May 1945

US Military Cemetery

The Imperial Japanese Army began a surprise attack on Manila on December 8, 1941, just hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor. After heavy bombardments from the air, ground troops from the Japanese empire landed north and south of Manila. Under the pressure of superiority, the American army withdrew to the Bataan peninsula and the island of Corregidor, near the Manila Bay. To protect Manila from destruction, it was declared an open city.

On January 2, 1942, the Japanese army occupied Manila. During the occupation, Japanese troops were subjected to mass shootings, torture and rapes against the civilian population. Humans were burned alive or weaned with the samurai sword.

After the Americans landed in Luzon on February 5, 1945, the American General Douglas MacArthur began a reconquest of the city. Manila was the scene of loss-making house battles because the Japanese army had taken over. The battle over Manila led to the widespread destruction of the city (especially the old Spanish town).

The tough Japanese resistance was broken mainly by heavy artillery fire. On March 4, 1945, Major General Oscar Griswold declared the city liberated. In the fighting, the Japanese, under orders from Tokyo, carried out the Manila massacre during the last three weeks of February, killing some 100,000 civilians. 20,000 Japanese died during the fighting.

In March 2011, Filipino workers in Manila hit a mass grave in the Nasugbu district. It is believed that these are the remains of 14 Philippine prisoners of war during World War II.

Independence and dictatorship

Philippines Supreme Court in Manila

In 1946, Manila became the capital of the independent republic of the Philippines, but as early as 17 June 1948, he lost this status to Quezon City under the Republic Act No. 333.

On December 30, 1965, Ferdinand Marcos was appointed president in Manila. In 1970, the First Quarter Storm broke out in Manila, student riots against the corrupt Marcos regime, partly because Marcos was preparing a new constitution to lift the limitation to two presidential terms. The protests lasted for three months. In 1973, the Supreme Court legalized the new constitution. The Philippines introduced the parliamentary system, which, in fact, served to consolidate Marcos's power.

Under the Presidential Legislative Decree No 940, Manila regained the status of capital of the Philippines on 24 June 1976. Quezon City, along with Manila and other municipalities, became part of the National Capital Region (NCR), also called Metro Manila. Several government officials remained in Quezon City, including the Batasang Pambansa (former Philippine parliament) and ultimately the House of Representatives.

On August 21, 1983, an attacker, Benigno Aquino, the opposition leader and husband of Corazon Aquino, shot dead when he returned from the USA at Manila airport. Aquino was a martyr when he was murdered. Two million people took part in his funeral. A mass movement against the Marcos regime emerged. His widow, Corazon Aquino, became the leader of this movement.

democratization

In early 1986, following early elections, a subsequent mutiny by parts of the military, mass demonstrations, and unrest called the EDSA Revolution, Aquino was sworn in to the presidency of the Philippines at Club Filipino in Manila. Ferdinand Marcos fled abroad on February 25, 1986. In 1987, the Philippines returned to the presidential system.

From January 10th to January 15th 1995 the X took place in Manila. World Youth Day. At the final fair with Pope John Paul II. On January 15, around four million people took part. It was the largest historically documented fair of all time and at the same time the largest known assembly in the history of mankind.

A series of bomb attacks in Manila on 30 and 31 December 2000 killed at least 22 people and injured 100, some seriously. Police subsequently arrested several Muslims as suspects.

On 17 January 2001, following the failure of an impeachment case against President Joseph Estrada for corruption, mass demonstrations began on Manila's Epifanio Delos Santos Avenue (EDSA), which lasted several days. On 20 January 2001, the Chair of the President was declared vacant by the Supreme Court without any legal basis and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was sworn in as new President. The following counter-demonstrations were shot down by the military at its command and opposition leaders were imprisoned.

On February 24, 2006, the government alleged a coup attempt in Manila by parts of the military. President Arroyo imposed a state of emergency, government-loyal military and other security forces secured strategic locations in the capital. Demonstrations to mark the 20th anniversary of Marcos's fall were banned, parts of the press censored, and demonstrations were forcibly dissolved by the police. On 3 March 2006, the state of emergency was lifted.

development

In 1876, Manila had nearly 100,000 people, and by 1903, the number doubled to around 220,000. In 1939, just before the beginning of World War II, the city had 623,000 inhabitants, and in 1948 it had about one million. At the moment, the city's population has grown to 1.7 million. The population growth has stabilized as a result of the narrow urban boundaries, and the growth is now taking place mainly in the countless suburbs, which now have 17.5 million inhabitants. The metropolitan area, far beyond the boundaries of the metro Manila agglomeration, has a total population of 19.2 million (2008).

A significant part of the population growth in the metropolitan region has been caused by immigration since the beginning of colonial development. The immigrants come from all parts of the Philippines and neighboring countries, not only from the neighboring hinterland, according to the international and supra-regional importance of the city. The result is a conglomerate of people from different ethnic and linguistic backgrounds.

The following table shows the census results according to the area. The population refers to the community in its political boundaries, without politically independent suburbs.

ethnic composition

Yacht club at the Manila Bay

The majority of the Manileños are made up of Tagalog. But there is also a significant share of the population of Ilocanos, Visayans, Bicolanos, Waray, Cebuanos and Davaoeños. The largest foreign population in Manila are Chinese, who have lived in Manila for centuries.

According to the 2000 census, the ethnic composition of the population was as follows:

Source: National Statistics Office

languages

In Manila, English is the official language. However, the language of the street is Tagalog and Taglish, a mixture of Tagalog and English, and the languages of the respective foreign residents, such as Chinese, Arabic, Spanish and Indonesian.

Tagalog was originally the language of the taverns who live in and around the region of Manila. It served de facto, but not de iure, as a basis for the official national language of Filipino. The Chinese minority mainly speaks hokkien, a variant of the Min Nan.

The most common dialects in Manila are: Tagalog (76.4%), Iloco (4.9%), Samar-Leyte (3.3%), Pampango (3.0%), Bicol (2.8%), Chinese (2.6%), Cebuano (1.9%), Hiligaynon (1.9%), Pangasinan (1.7%) and others (1,5 %). Filipino is spoken by 98.0% of the population, English by 66.1% and Spanish by 8.4%.

religions

Manila Metropolitan Cathedral

Mormon Temple

Because Manila was the seat of the Spanish colonial administration, there are many Catholic churches in Manila that are also protected by UNESCO. The most important missionaries that landed in the Philippines were the Dominicans, Jesuits, Francis, and the Augustines. Intramuros is the seat of Manila Archbishop and one of the oldest archdioceses in the Philippines, founded on 6 February 1579. The archdiary includes the Suffragan districts Antipolo, Cubao, Imus, Kalookan, Malolos, Novaliches, Parañaque, Pasig City and San Pablo.

A remarkable church in the city is the San Agustín church in Intramuros, one of the most popular wedding churches and the only one with air conditioning. Interesting churches are the Quiapo Church, Binondo Church, Malate Church and the San Sebastian Church. The church of San Sebastian is the only church building in Asia, completely constructed of steel. Most districts of Manila also have their own charming church buildings and are organized in parishes.

The Quiapo neighborhood has a larger Muslim community. Quiapo is home to the famous "Golden Mosque". In Ermita there is a Hindu temple for the Indian population, and in Malate on Quirino Avenue there is the only synagogue for the small Jewish community in the Philippines. Buddhist followers are mostly Chinese, few Filipinos.

The distribution of religion is as follows: Catholics (93.5 %), Iglesia in Cristo (1.9 %), Protestants (1.8 %), Buddhists (1.1 %) and others (1.4 %). Other religious minorities include: Evangelical, Mormones (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), followers of the Independent Philippine Church (Iglesia Filipina Independente/Aglipayan), Seventh-Day Adventists, supporters of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines and Jehovah's Witnesses.

Development of housing

Slum in Manila

The dynamics of immense population pressure since the mid-twentieth century led to an explosive uncontrolled expansion of the agglomeration of Manila. The planning couldn't keep up with these changes. Every day, countless informal settlements (squatter camps) were built on the periphery. The result was a disproportionate increase in the population of these settlements, which in Caloocan, Mandaluyong City, Navotas, Pateros, Pasay City, and Tondo account for between two-fifths and three-quarters of the total population.

The city's large expanse was due not only to population growth, but also to construction. The upper-class bungalow settlements, usually one to two-story, and the densely populated slate areas, use much more space than modern high-rise buildings require. While the huts in the squatter camps were built by immigrants without the permission of the competent authority or the landowner, the slums in the city center were built by the decay and neglect of the former inhabitants.

Tondo was one of the most densely populated slums in the world in 1990. 65,000 people lived on a square kilometer. The inhabitants suffered from tuberculosis, typhoid, malaria and diarrhea. The "Smokey Mountain", a landfill of more than 50 meters high, is located directly on the harbor and became an infamous landmark for the city in the 1980s. About 20,000 people lived on and off the mountain of waste. But in 1995, the government forcibly cleaned the slum, the huts were torn down, the families were expelled, and the Smokey Mountain was removed in the following years. The newly acquired building ground was sold profitably. The houses, completed in 2004, were uninhabitable as they were built on a planned but still gas-containing and undisposed site.

On the other hand, since the 1980's, numerous high-rise buildings, luxury housing estates, banks, insurance companies, and shopping centers were built. The wealthy inhabitants left the city center and settled outside the dense core area. This is how modern upper-class residential districts were built, especially in Bel Air Village, Dasmariñas Village and Forbes Park, as well as many other districts such as Ayala Alabang in Muntinlupa City, Greenhills in San Juan, Valle Verde Village in Pasig City, and the White Plains in Quezon City. About 10% of the population lives in these residential areas protected by walls and guard posts. These serve not only to separate the wealthy and destitute population, but also to protect against violence and crime.

Nowadays, around a highly dense city center, there are large, fragmented peripheral areas with little urban infrastructure. In total, about half of the inhabitants of Metro Manila live in slums and squatter camps. Informal construction is the only way for a large proportion of the inhabitants to get into housing. The inadequate housing situation and the numerous environmental problems have placed the governments in charge of thinking about a new urban planning policy.

Manila ranked 137th among 231 cities worldwide in 2018 on the quality of their lives.

municipal government

The mayor of Manila is elected by the people for a term of three years. He appoints heads of the various municipal departments and other civil servants. Since 2013, the Mayor of Manila has been Joseph "Erap" Ejercito Estrada, former President of the Philippines (1998-2001).

town hall

The Capital Region is managed by the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), which is led by the Metro Manila Council. The Council is made up of mayors from all 17 cities and municipalities of Metro Manila, led by a senior official body. The Council adopts legislation, sets the property tax and allocates its financial resources to the various municipal departments.

town twinning

Manila has partnerships with the following cities or regions:

music and theater

UST Quadricentennial Park Fountain

The capital is a cultural center and attracts the most talented artists of classical and modern Filipino music as well as dance and theater art throughout the country. The city is home to numerous bars and music clubs, mainly in Pasay, Makati, Quezon City and Roxas Boulevard.

Manila has one of the biggest theater scenes in Southeast Asia. Among the many English-speaking groups are the "Repertory Philippines", which plays their plays and musicals all year round in the "William J. Shaw Theater". Many of the actors had appearances in London's West End theater district and Broadway in New York.

Classical and contemporary plays are mainly performed by the Philippine Experimental Theater Association and the Tanghalang Pilipino. Local folklore, ballet performances and classical music concerts are shown at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. Free concerts, plays and ballet performances can be seen in the open-air theater of Paco Park and Rizal Park.

museums

Coconut Palace

The National Museum of the Philippines is one of the city's many museums. Opened on October 4th, 1901, it hosts exhibits in the fields of archeology, art, botany, zoology, geology and anthropology. The Casa Manila is located in Plaza San Luis Comples and houses 19th century Chinese and European furniture.

The Central Bank Money Museum opened on January 3, 1974 and displays Filipino and foreign coins and notes. The Archeological Museum of Manila (AMM) was inaugurated in 1987 and houses church and liturgical pieces on the history of the Catholic Church in the Philippines. Within the church of San Augustin there is the San Augustin Museum with a collection of oil paintings of sacred and religious art objects.

The Coconut Palace is also worth a visit. He was led by Imelda Marcos for the visit of Pope John Paul II. Built in 1981. He has served as a guest house for many prominent people, including Muammar el-Qaddafi, Brooke Shields and George Hamilton. Today it is a museum with butterfly garden and orchidarium.

The Ayala Museum in Makati shows you. a. a high-quality collection of historical goldsmiths' works, dioramas of the Philippine history and ship models.

Other museums worth mentioning include the Metropolitan Museum of Manila (considered to be the country's most important art museum), the "Museo Pambata" (children's museum), the "Museo ng Maynila" (Manila City Museum), the "Intramuros Lights and Sounds Museum" (Intramuros Light and Tonmuseum) and the "UST Museum of Arts and Sciences " (UST Museum of Arts and Science).

structures

governor's palace

Malacañang Palace

In the center of Manila is Intramuros, a fortified town built by the Spanish. During the Spanish colonial period, the district was the seat of the colonial administration, and the remaining buildings bear witness to this, including the "Manila Cathedral". Within Intramuros is the Fort Santiago fortress, founded in 1570 by Martín de Goiti as the Fürza de Santiago, in order to provide Spanish conquistadors with a refuge against guerrilla attacks by Muslim natives. The "Palacio del Gobernador" (governor's palace) was destroyed in an earthquake in 1863 and rebuilt in 1976.

The current Manila Cathedral (Manila Cathedral) is the ninth building on the site and was built between 1953 and 1958 with the support of the Vatican. The first church was built here in 1581. The building material was mainly mangrove wood and bamboo. The fifth building lost its bell tower during the earthquake of 1880, just one year after it was completed. During World War II the church was completely destroyed. Pope John Paul II In 1981 the building was placed in the rank of a papal basilica (Basilica Minore).

The church of San Agustín is also located in Intramuros. Built in the Baroque style between 1587 and 1606, the building is the oldest church in the Philippines and the only building that escaped the destruction of Intramuros during the battle of Manila (1945). In 1993, San Augustin was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List along with the Baroque churches in Santa Maria, Paoay and Miag-ao.

Masjid Al-Dahab (The Golden Mosque) is located in the Quiapo district and is considered the largest mosque in the Manila area. Built in 1976 under the direction of Imelda Marcos, the mosque bears its name and its dome is lit in shimmering golden tones. Also in Quiapo, Asia's only sacral building, built entirely in neo-Gothic style, is the Basílica de San Sebastián. It was built according to Gustave Eiffel’s design plans and is one of the few buildings in which companies from Belgium, Germany and the Philippines were involved. The Quiapo Church is the starting point of the Black Nazaran Festival and one of the four Basilica minores in the greater Manila area. Another basilica is the Binondo church, dedicated to the first Philippine saint of the Roman Catholic Church of Lorenzo Ruiz. The Manila Hotel is located on the edge of the Manila Bay. Built in 1907 during the American-colonial period, it opened on July 4th, 1912.

The Malacañang Palace is located on the northern bank of the river Pasig. The palace is the official residence of the President of the Philippines. In the Binondo district you will find the Chinatown of Manila. With its many shops and restaurants, it is a center of commerce and tourism. The district symbolizes the long history of China's presence in the city.

In the Art Deco style, the Manila Metropolitan Theater building was designed and opened in 1931. Numerous buildings in Manila have been built in the style of neo-classicism, such as the headquarters of the Philippine Post.

Quezon prison is located north-east of Manila.

park

At the northern end of Roxas Boulevard is the 60-hectare Rizal Park (also Luneta). He was known as Bagumbayan during the Spanish colonial period. The Rizal Monument was created here in 1912 and serves as a reminder of the Filipino patriot José Rizal. In 1917, the park was named after the Philippine national hero. The park has numerous museums and restaurants, an outdoor theater, a planetarium, the National Library and the Manila Hotel, as well as several Chinese and Japanese gardens. At an artificial small lake you can see replicas of the Philippine islands.

To the south of the Rizal Park on the Manila Bay lies the two-kilometer-long, linear "Baywalk". The promenade is lined with many outdoor restaurants and bars. In the evening, there are numerous bands and street artists. The Paco Park is located in the city center. The site was formerly a Spanish cemetery, during the Spanish colonial period, surrounded by massive walls and declared a national park in 1996.

The park "Liwasang Bonifacio" is located on the Pasig and is dedicated to the national hero Andrés Bonifacio. Bonifacio was the founder of Katipunan in 1892, an organization aimed at the Philippines' independence from Spanish rule. Later the Katipunan fought against the new colonial power USA. On the other side of the Pasig, opposite the Malacañang Palace, you will find the Malacañang Park.

On Plaza Lawton, near the Metropolitan Theater, is the 2 hectare "Meban Garden". The first botanical garden of Manila was built by the Spanish Jesuits. The garden houses Bermudagras (Cynodon dactylon) and three centuries old narrabum trees (Pterocarpus indicus). The Manila Zoological Garden on Mabini Street, at the corner of Quirino Avenue, in Malate is also worth a visit.

cemeteries

The American Soldier Cemetery in Fort Bonifacio

At the southern gate of Aurora Avenue is the Manila Chinese Cemetery, founded around 1850 by the senior government official Lim Ong and businessman Carlos Palanca (Tan Quien Sien). It commemorates the many Chinese who were not allowed to be buried in Spanish cemeteries. The 54-hectare cemetery houses paths lined with richly decorated marble mousoons. In addition to the honor for the deceased, the tombs serve the purpose of demonstrating the social status of the family.

The American Memorial and the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial are some ten kilometers south-east of Manila. The site in Taguig City is adjacent to Fort Bonifacio, the former U.S. Fort William McKinley. The 61.5 hectare area is home to the largest American burial ground in World War II. Here are 17,206 soldiers buried. In the stone chapel there are 25 mosaic cards that document the successful end of American missions in the Pacific War. The names of 36,285 missing persons are listed on a large limestone panel.

Regular events

Manila has many festivals and events every year. The Christian holidays are celebrated at great length, but very differently from those in Europe. In pre-Spanish times, many Hindu and Buddhist elements came to the region. In the aftermath of the Spanish colonization, many Spanish and Mexican traditions also entered culture, and after 1898, American influences were added.

On 9 January, Manila hosts the Black Nazaran Festival (Quiapo Fiesta), in which members of local gang to the penance carry a heavy statue of "Black Christ" through the streets of the Philippine capital, a procession in which only men are allowed to attend. The Black Nazaran procession is one of the largest in the country. It begins in the early afternoon in front of the Quiapo Church. Many Catholics then populate the district of Quiapo when the black wooden statue is pulled through the streets with long ropes.

The New Year's Chinese Festival is celebrated in Manila's Chinatown district in January or February. The streets of the district are full of traditional and ritual dragon dances. The New Year's Festival is considered to be the most important Chinese holiday and is the start of the new year according to the Chinese calendar.

The Manila Mango Festival takes place in May and June. On June 12, a major military parade will be held annually on the Philippines Independence Day in the Rizal Park. The Manila International Book Fair, the largest book fair in the Philippines, takes place from the end of August to the beginning of September. The Rizal Day celebrations are held annually on 30 December in honor of the Philippine national hero José Rizal in Rizal Park. On December 30, 1896, Rizal was executed in Bagumbayan (now called Rizalplatz).

View from De La Salle University to the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex

Manila was the venue for many major sporting events. These include, among other things, the Manila Thrilla Boxing Fight between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier in 1975, the 1978 Basketball World Cup, the 1954 Asian Games, the 1981 Southeast Asian Games, 1991, and 2005, East Asia 1919, 1925 and 1934, the Asia Athletics Championships 1993 and 2003, the ASEAN Para Games 2005 and the Chess Olympics 1992.

Built in 1934, the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex (RMSC) is the Philippine national sports complex and is considered to be the oldest sports complex in Asia. It is located on Pablo Ocampo (formerly Vito Cruz) Street in Malate. He was named after the national hero José Rizal. The "Rizal Memorial Track and Football Stadium" is the National Stadium in the Philippines and the largest stadium in the complex with a capacity of 30,000 spectators.

Basketball is the most popular sport in the Philippines. The most famous and successful teams from Manila are the Letran Knights, Mapua Cardinals, San Beda Red Lions, San Sebastian Stags and St. Benilde Blazers. All clubs play in the league of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, Philippines (NCAA).

Horse races, football, baseball and boxing are also widespread. Sipa (kick) is a Filipino game with a small basket ball played at the Rizal Court in Manila. Diving, boat trips, swimming and fishing are popular due to the location of Manila by the sea. There are several tennis courts in the city. There are numerous possibilities for golf and mini-golf courses.

trade

Pritil market in Tondo

In the old port

Manila, as well as much of the Philippines, is home to numerous open-air markets, as well as warehouses, where you can find a wide variety of fresh vegetables and fruits, such as the rather odd Durian. There are also less popular meat markets for tourists. The "shopping malls" (shopping malls) are also particularly popular in the Philippines, with their wide and deep range of shopping malls.

The SM City (SM stands for Shoe Mart) in the districts of Ermita, Malate and Ortigas are very well known in Manila. They are among the largest in the country. Robinsons Place is also popular in the heart of Manila, and in the southern part you will find the Harrison Plaza, one of the oldest shopping centers in the city. In the ‘Pamilihan sa ilalim ng tulay’ (German: "Market under the bridge") in Quiapo, the indigenous part of the population sells jewelry, clothes and fake brand clothes.

media

Manila with the main building of the University of Santo Tomas

Manila is home to major Filipino newspaper publishers, with a number of offices and print shops on the harbor area. The news industry is one of the legacies of the American colonial era, paving the way for press freedom in the country. Some of Manila's most important publications, including the oldest newspapers, include the Manila Times, the Manila Bulletin, the Philippine Star, Manila Standard Today, and The Daily Tribune.

The city is home to a number of news and information offices, agencies or service companies, including the President's press office and Radio-TV Malacañang (RTVM) based on the site of the Malacañang Palace. The National Press Club building is located at the foot of the Jones Bridge, near the post office, and houses the International Press Center (IPC), a government agency that grants permission to visit foreign news agency staff.

Manila is also home to the prestigious and exclusive association of journalists "Samahang Plaridel", whose members are among the country's leading publishers, editors and reporters. Agence France-Presse, CNN, Reuters, Associated Press, the Japanese NHK and Fuji Television channels, and the British Global Radio News have all of Manila's field offices.

Tens of thousands of employees work in Manila as content moderators for the large companies of all social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, etc. Their task is to check billions of image and video files that are uploaded on a daily basis worldwide and to decide within a few seconds whether to keep or delete them in publicly available stock. Since the work is extremely onerous for the moderators and also employees who are not up to the psychological pressure when they do not leave in time, commit suicide, these companies are working in secret and have their employees sign a duty of secrecy and secrecy.

Manila is the seat of many universities. In particular, the districts of Malate, Ermita, Paco, San Miguel, Quiapo and Sampaloc are home to the country's most important universities.

Among them are Arellano University, "University of the Philippines, Manila" (U.P. Manila) and the Philippine Normal University in Ermita, the Far Eastern University in Nicanor Reyes Street (formerly Morayta Street), the private Catholic universities Ateneo de Manila and De La Salle, and the Catholic University of Santo Tomas in Sampaloc, the city-owned Pamphantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (University of Manila City) In Intramuros and at three locations in the city, Polytechnic University of the Philippines. Other key institutions are the Mapua Institute of Technology, a prestigious engineering school, the Centro Escolar University, Manila, San Beda College, and the University of the East.

There is also a German European School (DESM) which works closely with the Lycée Français de Manille (LFM). It can be used to obtain recognized German language diplomas, as well as German diplomas and access to higher education, such as the International Baccalaureate.

The National Museum of the Philippines (National Museum of the Philippines), where the spoliarium of the artist Juan Luna is exhibited, is located at the Rizal Park in conjunction with the National Library of the Philippines (National Library of the Philippines).

Sons and daughters of the city:

• Mariano Gomez (1799-1872), priest and national hero
• Jacinto Zamora (1835-1872), priest and national hero
• Pedro Paterno (1857-1911), politician and writer
• Erica Grupe-Lörcher (1875-1960), German author
• Patricio G. Mariano (1877-1935), one of the most famous dramatists and poets who wrote in the language of the Tagalog
• Carlos P. Rómulo (1899-1985), politician, diplomat and publicist (1942 Pulitzer Prize)
• Frederick Walker Castle (1908-1944), US Brigadier General
• Robert Borg (1913-2005), US dressage
• José Villanueva (1913-1983), Boxer
• Washington SyCip (1921-2017), accountant and entrepreneur
• Salvador Quizon (1924-2016), Roman Catholic priest and bishop in Lipa
• Tony Settember (1926-2014), American car driver
• Florencio Campomanes (1927-2010), chess player and official
• Alfredo Lim (1929-2020), politician
• Corazon Aquino (1933-2009), politician, 1986-92 President of the Philippines
• Mel Lopez (1935-2017), politician and sports official
• Cirio H. Santiago (1936-2008), film director, film producer and screenwriter
• Rodolfo C. Severino (1936-2019), Diplomat and Secretary General of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
• Pilar Seurat (1938-2001), actress and dancer
• Luis Eduardo Aute (1943-2020), Spanish poet, songwriter, painter and filmmaker
• Narcisa Escaler (* 1944), diplomat, manager and entrepreneur
• Walden Bello (* 1945), sociologist, critic of globalization, professor at the University of the Philippines
• Ronaldo Puno (* 1948), politician
• Jessica Hagedorn (* 1949), Filipino-American author
• Isabel Preysler (* 1951), Spanish-Philippine model, ex-wife of Julio and mother of Enrique Iglesias
• Johnny Alegre (* 1955), jazz musician
• Enrique V. Macaraeg (* 1955), Roman Catholic priest, Bishop of Tarlac
• Mark Cojuangco (* 1957), politician
• Conrado Estrella III (* 1960), politician
• Socrates Buenaventura Villegas (* 1960), Roman Catholic Archbishop of Lingayen-Dagupan
• Roberto Gaa (* 1962), Roman Catholic priest, Bishop of Novaliches
• Christopher Blenkinsop (* 1963), English-German musician
• Jeffrey Ching (* 1965), British composer of Chinese origin
• Joey Santiago (* 1965), American musician
• Marcelino Antonio Maralit (* 1969), Roman Catholic priest, Bishop of Boac
• Pedro Baquero (* 1970), Roman Catholic priest, Bishop of Kerema in Papua New Guinea
• Laidback Luke (bourgeois: Lucas Cornelis van Scheppigen, * 1976), Dutch House DJ and producer
• Donna Cruz (* 1977), singer and actress
• Josiah Ng (* 1980), Malaysian cyclist
• Billy Crawford (* 1982), singer, dancer, producer, songwriter and actor
• Arianne Caoili (1986-2020), Australian-Philippine chess player
• Marlon Stöckinger (* 1991), Swiss-Philippine car racer
• Ernest Obiena (* 1995)
• Hella Sketchy (2001-2019), American rapper