Fort Santiago

Fort Santiago stands where the Pasig River meets Manila Bay, the point the Spanish fortified in the 1570s on the site of an earlier settlement, and the stone gate with its carved relief of Saint James is one of the most recognisable pieces of architecture in the country. Inside, the fort is now largely gardens and ruins: lawns laid over the old plaza, the brick outlines of barracks and magazines, the walls you can walk along for views over the river, and the Rizal Shrine, a museum in the restored quarters holding manuscripts and possessions of the national hero, who was held here before his execution in 1896 - brass footsteps set into the ground trace his last walk out to the field at Bagumbayan. The riverside dungeons where prisoners drowned at high tide, and the deaths of hundreds held here in the final weeks of the Second World War, are marked and explained rather than dressed up. Restoration since the 1950s rebuilt what the 1945 battle for Manila destroyed.

History

The site was once the palisaded fort of Rajah Matanda of pre-Hispanic Manila, and the Spanish began Fort Santiago after founding the city in 1571, first in palm logs and earth. The stone fort and the first walls of Intramuros were built from 1590 to 1593 under Governor-General Gómez Pérez Dasmariñas, of volcanic tuff from Guadalupe, and in the 1730s Fernando Valdés y Tamón added the semicircular gun platform called the media naranja (Wikipedia, Fort Santiago).

The main sights

• The main gate - the carved stone entrance with Saint James.
• The Rizal Shrine - manuscripts and the marked last cell.
• The brass footsteps - the traced walk to the execution ground.
• The walls and gardens - ramparts over the Pasig and lawns below.

When to go

December to February for cooler weather; mornings any time of year, since Intramuros is hot and shadeless by midday. Allow two hours to include the museum.

Things to know

Much of what stands is post-war reconstruction - the fort was almost destroyed in 1945. Little shade in the open areas. Entrance fees apply, and the Rizal Shrine has its own opening hours.

Nearby

San Agustin Church, Manila Cathedral and the rest of Intramuros are within walking distance; Rizal Park is just south.

Key facts