Casa Manila/Mandarin Orange Monday & Blue Monday

 straight out of the camera

Arched passageway at Casa Manila that connects the patio to a museum, a restaurant and hotel.  Casa Manila is inside the fortified city of Intramuros, a meticulously reconstructed replica of a mid-19th century home that would have belonged to a wealthy illustrado (middle class Filipino) family.  

There was a bunch of construction workers in blue shirt working on a portion of the patio--my contribution to Blue Monday.  The second photo was enhanced to highlight the terra cotta pots for Mandarin Orange Monday.

adjusted colors and saturation

Oasis/Water World Wednesday

Be the peace you seek.

Linking to Water World Wednesday

Memorare-Manila 1945/OWT

We were walking towards the Manila Cathedral at dusk when I noticed this moving monument at Plazuela de Santa Isabel along Calle Anda in Intramuros.  I came closer to read what was etched on the black granite.

Memorare - Manila 1945

This memorial is dedicated to those innocent victims of war. Many of whom went nameless and unknown to a common grave, or never even knew a grave at all.  Their bodies have been consumed by fire or crushed to dust beneath the rubble of ruins.

Let this monument be the gravestone for each and everyone of the over 100,000 men, women, children and infants killed in Manila during its battle Liberation, February 3 - March 3, 1945.  We have not forgotten them, nor shall we ever forget.

May they rest in peace as part now of the sacred ground of this city, the Manila of our affections.

The inscription on the marker reads:  

This monument is erected in memory of the more than 100,000 defenseless civilians who were killed during the Battle for the Liberation of Manila between February 3 and March 3,1945. They were mainly victims of heinous acts perpetrated by the Japanese Imperial Forces and the casualties of the heavy artillery barrage by the American Forces. The Battle for Manila at the end of World War II was one of the most brutal episode in the history of Asia and the Pacific. The non-combatant victims of that tragic battle will remain forever in the hearts and minds of the Filipino people.

I hope these young girls playing by the monument would learn the lessons in history, keep them alive and not take for granted the innocent lives lost from the battle to liberate their hometown 67 years ago.

A monument dedicated to non-combatant victims of the last war erected in 1995.

 Linking to Our World-Tuesday

Plaza San Luis/Our World-Tuesday

Named after one of the old barrios of the walled city of Intramuros, Plaza San Luis is a cultural-cum-commercial complex currently composed of five houses---Casa Manila, Casa Urdaneta, Casa Blanca, Los Hidalgos and El Hogar Filipino.  Above is the facade of Casa Manila along the cobblestone street of Calle Real del Palacio (also known as General Luna Street) and across San Agustin Church.

Casa Manila is a museum showcasing a typical upper-class colonial Intramuros home. The interiors are filled with late 19th century and early 20th century furniture, artwork, and other artifacts from the Spanish era, all carefully arranged to illustrate what life was like for wealthy families of that period.  Below is a fountain at the courtyard.

Next to Casa Manila is this white-painted building that houses a mid-range hotel and a fine-dining restaurant, Barbara's.  Barbara's serves traditional Filipino and Spanish fares in an old world setting.

At the end of the block, at the corner of Calle Real and Urdaneta is this beautiful neoclassic house [that was newly painted]---a typical home of a Filipino illustrado or the privileged class in the late 19th century.

Intramuros is a 0.26-square mile fortress built in the 16th century, a city within the city of Manila, and its oldest district.

Linking to Our World Tuesday

San Agustin Church/OWT

I was in San Augustin Church last month to accompany balikbayan (Filipinos who live abroad) friends.  My friends who live in London were here for 2 weeks to attend a relative's wedding.  This church is one of the most popular wedding churches in Manila.  In fact, my best-friend wanted to get married here almost a decade ago, but they were fully booked for over a year when we inquired.

Originally known as "Iglesia de San Pablo", San Agustin Church was founded by the Augustinians in 1571, built in 1589 and completed in 1607.  It is the oldest stone church in the Philippines, and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site as one of the Baroque Churches in the Philippines in 1993.  

During the Seven Years' War in 1762, San Agustin Church was looted by the British forces who occupied Manila.  It was renovated in 1854.  The church was also the site where the Spanish Governor prepared the terms of the surrender of Manila to the United States of America in 1898. 

In World War II, the Japanese turned San Agustin Church into a concentration camp for prisoners.  Hundreds of Intramuros residents and priests died here during the final days of the war.  Among the seven churches in the walled city, San Agustin Church was the only building left intact after the destruction of Intramuros during the Battle of Manila (1945).  The  present structure is actually the third  to stand on the site and has survived 7 major earthquakes.

San Agustin Church has 14 side chapels and a magnificent trompe l'oeil mural on its ceiling and walls.  Trompe l'oeil is French for fools the eye,  an art technique involving extremely realistic imagery in order to create an optical illusion that the depicted objects appear in three dimensions.  The nave art was painted by two Italian scenographers Giovanni Dibella and Cesare Alberoni in 1875--scenegraphers are artists who paint backdrops for operas.

It was practiced in the last centuries for prominent persons to be buried inside this church---the painter Juan Luna, Spanish Governors, statesmen and archbishops.  El Adelantado Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, founder of the city of Manila who died in 1572 was entombed in one of the chapels while wealthy patrons of the church paid for their final resting place here.

San Agustin Church

General Luna Street

Intramuros, Manila

 

Linking to Our World-Tuesday

Intramuros Fountain/Watery Wednesday

A fountain at a small courtyard in Intramuros, the oldest and a historic district in Manila.

Linking to Watery Wednesday

Fort Santiago, revisited/OWT

I am having fun with photo effects.:p  And I think these photos are perfect for the vintage effect, don't you think?  The top and bottom photos were taken in front of Fort Santiago, an old Spanish fort in the walled city of Intramuros.  With these horse-drawn carriages, I was thrown back in time to 1900's Manila.  But I was here to attend a modern-day wedding reception at the Plaza de Moriones.  My friend's son got married---I couldn't believe it!  It was like yesterday when this handsome little boy entertained himself by drawing pictures while us girls were having girl-talk. 

my friend, Angie, giving her speech and crying at the same time.  she couldn't seem to stop crying.:p  Nico, after all, is her first-born.

This building across the entrance of Fort Santiago houses United Philippine Lines (UPL), a manning company for the maritime industry. 

Linking to Our World - Tuesday

Public [Photo Hunt]

These are recycled photos of Plaza de Armas in Fort Santiago, the fort's main square.  This place is open to the public for a minimal fee of 75 pesos (approximately $1.65).   At the entrance of Plaza de Armas are the brass footsteps of  Dr. Jose Rizal, embedded on concrete.  These are his footsteps from his prison cell to Bagumbayan where he was executed by firing squad  and made him a martyr of the Philippine Revolution.  Dr. Rizal was imprisoned in this fort in 1896 during his court martial---he was later convicted on charges of rebellion, sedition and conspiracy against the Spanish government.

Across Plaza de Armas is the Rizal Shrine, a public museum built in honor of Rizal's heroism.  The shrine holds Dr. Rizal's books, memorabilia, manuscripts and artworks, his famous poem Mi Ultimo Adios and a piece of his vertebra.   A life-size statue of  the hero holding a book stands at the edge of Plaza de Armas.  This statue made me wonder what was his favorite book.:p

Plaza de Armas at dusk

Posted for Photo Hunt

Moat of Fort Santiago [Sunday Bridges]

At the tip of the delta near the mouth of the Pasig River stands Fort  Santiago.   It was built in 1571 for Spanish conquistador, Miguel Lopez de Legazpi.  It is part of the structures of the walled city of Intramuros, and one of the oldest Spanish stone fortresses in the Philippines. As the premier defense fortress of the Spanish government in the Philippines, the main gate of Fort Santiago is fortified by a moat with a stone  bridge. 

Fort Santiago was the site of fierce conflicts between the Chinese and the Spanish in the 15th century.  It was captured by the Japanese during World War II and sustained heavy damage from American and Filipino mortar shells during the Battle of Manila in 1945.

This was the main fort for the spice trade to the Americas and Europe  for 333 years, and where the famous Manila Galleon trade to Acapulco, Mexico began. 

Posted for Sunday Bridges

Roxas Bridge [Sunday Bridges]

Viewed from the walls of historic Fort Santiago in Intramuros is Roxas Bridge, formerly called the Del Pan Bridge, one of the 13 bridges that crosses Pasig River.  Pasig River stretches 25 kilometers connecting Laguna de Bay, a freshwater lake, to Manila Bay.  Roxas Bridge is the last bridge near the mouth of the Pasig River that opens to Manila's Port Area.

Posted for Sunday Bridges

Photo-Hunt: lock

A rusted padlock secures this recessed gate in Fort Santiago, one of the oldest Spanish stone fortresses in the Philippines. The view from this locked postern far north of Plaza Armas is the dying Pasig River, choked with industrial waste and garbage. This gate is called Postigo de la Nuestra Senora de Soledad (Postern of our Lady of Solitude), an escape passage of a Spanish Governor-General in 1762 when British soldiers captured Manila.

Postigo de la Nuestra Senora de Soledad

Posted for Photo-Hunt

Fountains at Fort Santiago - Watery Wednesday

Sounds of water greet the visitor upon entering the gates of Fort Santiago in the walled city of Intramuros. There are two fountains at the center of the plaza known as Plaza Moriones, named after Governor General Domingo Moriones (1877-1880). Plaza Moriones is a public promenade with benches and tree-lined walk ways. Near the fountain is a historical marker established by the Spanish Embassy to commemorate the 1792 political and scientific expedition to the Philippines made by Alejandro Malaspina and Jose Bustamante.
The information center, cafe and souvenir shop are housed at the ten chambers of the stone wall near the gate. An old building, a former soldiers' barracks of the Spanish and Americans, has been slowly disintegrating and no longer open to the public. Cultural performances are also shown here---we caught a drum and bugle corps during our visit. I also noticed picnic tables, and the archeological excavation of Artillera de Maestranza, a foundry during the Spanish regime that cast cannons and ammunition. Flowering kalachuchi (frangipani), old narra and huge anahaw trees provide shade in this part of Fort Santiago.

Remnants of the past---a cannon and mortar shells on display, either from World War II or the Spanish period. Fort Santiago, one of the oldest Spanish stone fortresses in the country, is definitely a cool place to visit.

"The whole history of the world is summed up in the fact that, when nations are strong, they are not always just, and when they wish to be just, they are no longer strong."

~ Winston Churchill

Posted for Watery Wednesday

Fort Santiago - Weekend Snapshot

Two weekends ago, I was an accidental tourist in Fort Santiago. It's been more than a decade since I visited the old fortress. I brought an American friend there once upon a time, then a client from UK. Driving from Caloocan on late Sunday afternoon after attending the first birthday party of my niece, together with my mom and my friend S, we stopped by the Manila Cathedral then walked towards Fort Santiago to cool off. It was a hot and humid afternoon.

Fort Santiago, or Fuerte de Santiago in Spanish, is a defense fortress built for Spanish conquistador, Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, in 1571. It was named in honor of a Spanish patron saint, James, Slayer of the Moors (Santiago Matamoros), whose wooden relief decorates the main gate of the fort. Fort Santiago is part of the structures of the walled city of Intramuros. One of the oldest and most dramatic colonial buildings in the Philippines, Fort Santiago was built to guard the entrance to the Pasig River. The site where the fort stands was originally the settlement of Rajah Sulayman, a Muslim chieftain and the last ruler of pre-hispanic Manila. The original structure made out of log and earth was destroyed in the Spanish-Chinese War of 1574-1575. It was in 1589 when the Spaniards constructed the fort using hard stone and finished in 1592. It became the main fort for travels and spice trade to the Americas and Europe for 333 years. The famous Manila Galleon trade to Acapulco, Mexico started sailing from the Fuerte de Santiago.

The fort is protected by 22 feet high walls, with a thickness of 8 feet and a gate measuring 40 feet high. The gate of Fort Santiago was built together with the military barracks in 1714. It was destroyed in the Battle of Manila in 1945, and was restored in 1982.

Fort Santiago was used by the Spanish as its base of power, which they wielded unforgivingly. It housed the military, Spanish officials and dignitaries and also served as a formidable prison with infamous dungeons and torture chambers. More recent memories of tyranny include the legacy of wartime Japanese occupation, when Philippine freedom fighters suffered and died here. In another cell block, American POW's were left to be drowned by the rising tide. This fort was one of the rumoured resting places for the legendary wartime trove of Yamashita's Gold and the victims' final resting place has been much disturbed by treasure hunters.

my mom, checking out the dungeon

The prison in Fort Santiago also held in confinement its most famous prisoner---Dr. Jose Rizal, the national hero, until his execution on December 30, 1896. It was during his final days in Fort Santiago when Jose Rizal wrote his death poem, Mi Ultimo Adios.

Rizal's cell---the former Cuarto de Repuesto

Now embedded onto the ground in bronze, are Rizal's final footsteps from his cell in Fort Santiago to Bagumbayan where he was executed by a firing squad.

Rizal's final footsteps

At the heart of Fort Santiago is the Rizal Shrine. The shrine is dedicated to Rizal's lifework and home to various memorabilia, books, manuscripts, artworks belonging to the martyr. It's a pity the shrine was already closed when we got there that Sunday afternoon. I would have loved to see the relics of our national hero---one of his vertebrae, the first draft of his novel Noli Me Tangere (1887) and the original of Mi Ultimo Adios.

a statue of Rizal at the Plaza de Armas

The brick ruins are part of the oldest building in Fort Santiago. Built in 1593, the structure was a barracks for Spanish soldiers. During the American period, army officers and their families lived here.

Plaza de Armas at dusk

The Fort Santiago I visited that Sunday was a lot better than the Fort Santiago more than 10 years ago. The fort is now well-maintained, the rest rooms and grounds are clean---a national shrine every Filipino can be proud of. Fort Santiago may have lost its old grandeur after World War II but its significance to our culture and history should not be lost on us.

Posted for Weekend Snapshot