Backpacking: Intramuros Manila, Philippines

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The name Intramuros is taken from the Latin, intra-muros, literally "Within the walls", meaning within the wall enclosure of the city/fortress, it is also describes its structure as it is surrounded by thick and high walls as defense structures during the Spanish colonial period. Intramuros and Fort Santiago became a big part of the Philippine history.

The park is well maintained, secure and outside Fort Santiago, you’ll see 15th and 16 century buildings, structures designed which are still known in Spanish name within outside of the walls of the park, you can view golf courses and the amazing views of the city.

Activities and attractions must see in Intramuros.

Destination: Introducing Intramuros Manila!

Today, the fort bastions, and the prison dungeons for criminals used by the Spanish officials, are now part of a historical park which also includes the Plaza Moriones and several ruins. The park houses well-preserved legacies from the Spanish Colonial Period including memorabilia of José Rizal at the Rizal Shrine, a replica of his ancestral house in Laguna province. The Intramuros Administration now manages the reconstruction, maintenance, and management of the fort since 1992. For guided tours of Fort Santiago, educational tours and field trips, you can request from Intramuros Administration.

Opening Hours: Daily 8:00 AM-6:00 PM

Entrance Fee/Admission price: You can purchase the ticket in the entrance gate in their ticket booth.
Adults: 75.00 pesos
Children/students/teachers (valid IDs required); 50.00 pesos
Disabled and senior citizens: Free Entrance fee

Parking: An open car park is just beside the entrance gate of Fort Santiago with parking fee of 40.00 pesos per car. You may also park on General Luna area around Plaza Roma in front of Manila Cathedral.

How to get there:

By public transportation

Take a jeepney which has (Quiapo-Pier-Lawton) on its front sign. Tell the driver you want to get off within walking distance of Fort Santiago. The minimum fare is 9.00 pesos.

By LRT (train)

The Central station stop will be a walking distance towards Plaza Lawton going to Intramuros and Fort Santiago.

By Taxi/Cab

This is the easiest and direct way going to Intramuros. Tourist can pay 250.00 +/- especially if you are caught up in traffic.

How to Get Around:

By Calesa

The famous and the very old-fashioned way to get around Intramuros is by calesa. These two wheel horse-drawn carriages are all over Intramuros and are available for hire while exploring around Intramuros. It is best to negotiate the price first before going around. The price depends on the number of passengers, how many stops and how long the tour it will be. Some will charge 350.00 pesos for three passengers for 30 minutes ride.

On foot

Walking from one attraction to another is also an option to get around Intramuros. Just wear comfortable walking shoes and takes some water with you. Some prefer to take a ride so they won’t get lost during a tour. As always keep an eye out of your belongings.

By Tricycle

The tricycle is a one way to get around if you are alone or with children. They charge by the hour, best to settle the rate before start and set the time. The cost starts from 25.00-40.00 pesos per person.

I. Intramuros Tour

A. Defensive Walls of Intramuros & Fortifications

The walls were made of stone and have covered an area of 64 hectares (160 acres) of land, surrounded by 8 feet (2.4 m) thick stones and high walls that rise to 22 feet (6.7 m). An inner moat (foso) surrounds the perimeter of the wall and an outer moat (contrafoso) surrounding the walls that face the city.

1. Nuestra Senora de Guia - was erected to defend the land and sea on the southwestern side of the city.

2. Baluarte de San Diego - This bastion, shaped like an "ace of spades" is the southernmost point of the wall and the first of the large bastions added to the encircling walls.

The seven bastions (clockwise, from Fort Santiago) are the Bastions of Tenerias, Aduana, San Gabriel, San Lorenzo, San Andres, San Diego, and Plano.  The bastions were constructed at different time periods, hence the reason for the differences in style. As mentioned above, the oldest bastion is the San Diego Bastion.

3. Fort Santiago, Santa Clara (on the NW end of Plaza Moriones). The former military headquarters of the Spanish colonial government. Although the fort sustained very heavy damage during the 1945 Battle of Manila, several key portions of the compound were subsequently restored. It is now considered a major landmark and one of Manila's most popular tourist attractions, partly because José Rizal - the national hero of the Philippines - was imprisoned here prior to his execution on 30 Dec 1896.

4. Postigo del Palacio, Santa Lucia (a short distance from the back of the Palacio del Gobernador). Built in 1662, renovated 1782-83. On 30 Dec 1896, national hero José Rizal was taken through this gate en route to the place of his execution, in what is known today as Rizal Park.

 

B. Buildings (Inside Colonial Intramuros)

1. Plaza Mayor (later known as Plaza McKinley then Plaza de Roma)- The main square of the city of Manila - Plaza de Roma is Intramuros' very own plaza mayor (main square). At the centre of the plaza stands a monument to King Carlos IV of Spain, cast in 1808 and erected in 1824 by a colonial government grateful for his having dispatched a shipment of smallpox vaccine to the Philippines.

2. Ayuntamiento (City Hall)- East of the plaza -Ayuntamiento, Andres Soriano (Aduana) cor. Cabildo (right next to Plaza de Roma), Completely rebuilt in 1884 after the disastrous earthquake of 1863, the seat of Manila's colonial-era city council once had some of the grandest interiors in Intramuros. A major reconstruction project that started a few years ago is finally nearing completion, with the facade of the historic building now having regained much of its prewar glory.

3. Palacio Del Gobernador, General Luna (Calle Real del Palacio) cor. Andres Soriano (Aduana) (right next to Plaza de Roma). This eight-story office building was erected in the late 1870s on the site of the Spanish Governor-General's official residence, which was destroyed in a powerful 1863 earthquake that also damaged many other structures in Intramuros.

C. Churches

Of the seven main churches that were located within its walls, only two remain: San Agustin Church, the oldest building in existence in Manila completed in 1607, and the Manila Cathedral, the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manila, which was reconstructed in the 1950s.

1. San Agustin Church (Augustinians) built in 1607.

2. San Nicolas de Tolentino Church (Recollects) (TODAY: Manila Bulletin)

3. San Francisco Church (Franciscans) (TODAY: Mapúa Institute of Technology)

4. Third Venerable Order Church (Third Order of St. Francis) (TODAY: Mapúa Chapel)

5. Santo Domingo Church (Dominican) (TODAY: Bank of the Philippine Islands)

6. Lourdes Church (Capuchins)

7. San Ignacio Church (Jesuits) (TODAY: Ruins)

8. Minor Basilica of the Immaculate Conception (Manila Cathedral)

Destroyed and rebuilt several times over, the Cathedral is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manila and one of the most important churches in the Philippines. A small exhibit detailing the Cathedral's history can be found in one of the side chapels near the entrance. Masses are scheduled daily; refer to the official website for a full schedule of liturgical services. Donations are appreciated.

D. Gates of Intramuros

Entrance to the city was through eight gates or Puertas namely (clockwise, from Fort Santiago) Puerta Almacenes, Puerta de la Aduana, Puerta de Santo Domingo, Puerta Isabel II, Puerta del Parian, Puerta Real, Puerta Sta. Lucia, and Puerta del Postigo

E. Museums

1. Bahay Tsinoy
 

Address: 32 Anda cor. Cabildo Streets, Intramuros, Manila
Entrance Fee: 100.00 pesos for adults; 60.00 pesos for students and children
Open Hours: Tues-Sunday 1:00 PM-5:00 PM.

A museum dedicated to the history and contributions of the Chinese-Filipino community. Dedicated to the largest immigrant group in the Philippines, the Chinese, the Bahay Tsinoy recreates the Parian (now known as Chinatown in Binondo). The museum has wax figures that depict the struggles of overseas Chinese workers, which resembles the life of the overseas Filipino workers. In the museum, guests will learns how the Chinese people built a marketplace in Binondo and blended among the Filipinos through intermarriage over the past centuries.

2. Casa Manila

Address: General Luna (Calle Real del Palacio) cor. Real (across the street from San Agustín Church) Intramuros, Manila

Entrance Fee: 75.00 pesos for adult; 50.00 pesos for student, teacher, senior citizen

Open Hours: Tues-Sunday 09:00 PM-06:00 PM.

Recreating the life of the Filipino elite class during the 17th and 18th century, the museum shows the influence of Spain’s opulent lifestyle among the native Filipinos. More than just a walkthrough of the various artifacts and antique memorabilia, Casa Manila aims to revive Filipinos’ buried past and preserved the country’s rich history. The interiors are filled with antique furniture, artwork, and other artifacts from the Spanish era, all carefully arranged to illustrate what life was like for wealthy families of that period.

Governed by the Intramuros Administration, the museum building has a baroque design, with ornate high ceiling, Castilian flooring and Victorian wood furniture. Like the other houses in Plaza San Luis Complex, the casa has commercial establishments on the ground floor and residential areas in its upper floors.

3. Light and Sound Museum

Address: Santa Lucia cor. Victoria, Intramuros, Manila

Entrance Fee: 100.00 pesos per person for group of 10 or more; smaller groups are reportedly charged a higher per-person rate. Make sure to go here in a big group because it is much cheaper.
Open Hours: Tues-Sunday 09:00 PM-06:00 PM.

The museum uses images sounds, and animatronics, the museum takes visitors on a journey through Philippine history under Spanish rule. The facility is housed in a building whose facade reproduces the appearance of the old motherhouse of the Beaterio de la Compañía de Jesús, which stood on the site until its destruction during the Second World War.

4. Rizal Shrine, Fort Santiago
 

Address: Fort Santiago, Intramuros, Manila

Entrance Fee: 100.00 pesos per person; 75.00 pesos for student; 50.00 pesos for children

Open Hours: Tues-Sunday 08:00 PM-05:00 PM.

Located inside the Fort Santiago, the Rizal Shrine Museum is a two-story building dedicated to the life and heroism of the Philippine national hero Dr. Jose Rizal. The building, which contained Rizal’s prison cell, originally housed the artillery companies of the Spanish army. The cell on the ground floor was the barracks pantry. Like the rest of the fort, it was destroyed during the World War II and was later reconstructed in 1953 to become the museum.

 

Upon entering on the first room in the ground floor, one can see a mural by National Artist Carlos “Botong” Francisco depicting the Philippine hero’s execution. In the Chamber of Texts room, one can see excerpts of Rizal’s works engraved on metal plates and other personal artifacts including his ophthalmologic instruments.

At the Garden Gallery is the small, windowless cell where Rizal was imprisoned. It has a life-size statue of Rizal sculpted by National Artist Guillermo Tolentino. History has it that this was where Rizal saw his mother for the last time and gave to his sister Trinidad the alcohol burner where he hid the last poem he had ever written, the “Mi Ultimo Adios” (My Last Farewell).

5. San Agustín Museum

Address: General Luna (Calle Real del Palacio) cor. Real (right next to San Agustín Church) Intramuros, Manila

Entrance Fee: 100.00 pesos for adult; 80.00 pesos for senior citizen; 50.00 pesos for college student; 45.00 pesos for high school student; 40.00 pesos for child.

Open Hours: Daily 08:00 PM-06:00 PM.

Adjacent to the San Agustín Church, is the San Agustin Church Museum. Connected to the centuries-old church through a passageway from the balcony, the San Agustin Museum preserves the church’s ecclesiastical relics and artworks such as wooden and ivory statues, Dominican paintings and sculptures, renditions of the galleon ships, the church’s 3400-kilogram bell and other architectural emblems of Spanish Catholicism. It also has some touches of Filipino and Chinese designs as evident in the octagonal-shaped, gold-gilded linings and pineapples decorating the pulpit. Italian artisans also incorporated trompe de l’oeil on the ceiling.

Having survived many bombings and weathered earthquakes and other natural calamities, its walls are testament to the rich Filipino history. Probably the main highlights of the tour are the is the bamboo organ, featuring a five-organ piano, on the church’s balcony and the mausoleum at the rear left of the church altar which houses the remains of Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, the Spanish Governor who named Manila as Spain’s colony.

F. The Ruins

1. Intendencia (Aduana), Andres Soriano (Aduana) cor. Muralla (not far from the riverbank), Built in the 1820s and reconstructed after the 1863 earthquake. This building once housed the Spanish colonial government's customs offices and other administrative units. It was damaged during the war but survived to re-enter government service - at one point housing the Central Bank of the Philippines - only to fall victim to a 1979 fire that caused massive destruction. There are plans to restore the building (whose exterior walls have survived more or less intact) for the use of the National Archives.

2. San Ignacio Church, Arzobispo cor. Anda,. Built by the Jesuits and consecrated in 1889, the church's magnificent interiors were completely destroyed in 1945. There are plans to restore the ruined building for use as an ecclesiastical museum.

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