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Intramuros, Manila's 16th Century Walled City

© Eva Goyena

Summer was long over but Manila still sweltered that afternoon. All the passengers in the jeepney I took from Sta. Cruz were occupied fanning their faces and torsos, as hard as if fanning coals to flame. Just a few minutes ride and I already saw the brave walls of Intramuros. I almost imagined breeze winnowing the tall grass beneath the walls of Aduana street. But wait, are there still cogon grass and weeds in Intramuros? The last time I spent walking around the walled city was two years ago!

Intramuros, built in 1571, is a city within a city enclosed with walls. (It was the capital of the city of Manila, while others regarded it as the old Manila itself.) Cobbled streets, Spanish styled-houses, churches, baluartes, and drawbridges---these are evocative of the 300 years of Spanish occupation in Manila. The now 18-hole golf course of Club Intramuros used to be a wide moat that protected the walled city from invaders. The Spanish government designed Intramuros as its headquarters and therefore made sure that no one could seize the city which served as its political, cultural, religious and commercial center. The moat was drained and turned into a golf course for sanitation reasons later when the Americans ruled the country.

Intramuros has suffered, aside from the bombings of World War II, many typhoons and earthquakes that reduced the city to shambles many times. However, through constant restoration and development efforts the Hispanic atmosphere inside Intramuros has been preserved. Join me now as I soak up the walls' atmosphere.

Before I entered the gate at General Luna St. I visited the Puerta Real Gardens at its left side. During the Spanish time, this served as one of the seven gates with drawbridges that opened at the break of dawn and closed before midnight. The area following the drawbridge was turned into a lovely garden, which is now a favorite venue for cultural presentations and wedding receptions.

Next stop was the Baluarte de San Diego, famous with its water reservoir and a beautiful garden most functional to students as it serves as their garden-cum-library. There are many universities inside Intramuros, and one of them is the Pamantasan Ng Lungsod Ng Maynila (University of the City of Manila) located exactly opposite the Baluarte de San Diego.

It was a very peaceful walk atop the walls. The sun seemed friendly that time as it hid itself on the clouds until it slipped itself perfectly into the Manila Bay (I'll give you another story later on Manila Bay sunset). As I enjoyed every step on the cobblestones of the walls, I remembered my history professor told us that those granites were actually imported by the Spaniards from China.