Manila Central Post Office

The Central Post Office was built in the 1920s to a design by Juan Arellano, Tomás Mapúa and Ralph Doane, the most imposing piece of the American-era plan for Manila drawn up by Daniel Burnham - a long neoclassical block on the south bank of the Pasig with sixteen Ionic columns across its front and a lobby built on a scale that made sending a letter feel like a civic act. It was destroyed in 1945 and rebuilt to the original design. In May 2023 a fire tore through the building over many hours and gutted it, destroying interiors, records and the lobby, and leaving the shell standing; restoration work has been under way since, with the structure declared a National Cultural Treasure shortly afterwards. For now it is a building to look at from Liwasang Bonifacio and the Jones Bridge rather than to enter, and its state is a live question rather than a settled one - worth checking current status before making a special trip.

History

Manila's first post office opened in 1767, and the Bureau of Posts was created on 15 September 1902. The present building, designed by Juan M. Arellano, Tomás Mapúa and Ralph Doane in the neoclassical style on the Pasig as the Burnham Plan intended, had its foundations laid between 2 August 1920 and 9 January 1922, was completed from February 1928, and was rebuilt in 1946 to its original design (Wikipedia, Manila Central Post Office).

What's there

• The columned front - sixteen Ionic columns facing the plaza.
• The river frontage - the block seen from Jones Bridge.
• The fire damage - the gutted shell under restoration.
• The Burnham layout - the plaza and axis it was built for.

When to go

Year-round for the exterior; evenings when the facade and Jones Bridge are lit. Interior access depends on restoration progress - check before travelling.

What to expect

The building was gutted by fire in 2023 and is a construction site, not a visitor attraction. Postal services have moved. Everything worth seeing is currently from outside.

Nearby

Intramuros and the Metropolitan Theater are close; Escolta and Binondo are across Jones Bridge.

Key facts