Spanish conquistador Miguel López de Legazpi founded Manila, the capital of the Republic of the Philippines on June 24, 1571.
Binondo, the oldest Chinatown in the world, was established in Manila in 1594 by the Spaniards as a settlement for Catholic Chinese. It was positioned near Intramuros but across the Pasig River so that colonial rulers could keep a close eye on their migrant subjects.
Spanish missionaries started christianizing the city and on January 19, 1607 San Agustin Church in Manila was officially completed; it is the oldest church still standing in the Philippines.
The Battle of Manila during the Seven Years War between Great Britain and Spain in and around Manila, concluded on October 6, 1762 with a British victory, leading to a short British occupation of the Philippine city.
Due to its central location in the Pacific sea trade routes, Manila received the moniker of the "Pearl of the Orient".
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| Miguel López de Legazpi |
Binondo, the oldest Chinatown in the world, was established in Manila in 1594 by the Spaniards as a settlement for Catholic Chinese. It was positioned near Intramuros but across the Pasig River so that colonial rulers could keep a close eye on their migrant subjects.
Spanish missionaries started christianizing the city and on January 19, 1607 San Agustin Church in Manila was officially completed; it is the oldest church still standing in the Philippines.
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| Front view of the historic San Agustin Church . Wikipedia Commons |
The Battle of Manila during the Seven Years War between Great Britain and Spain in and around Manila, concluded on October 6, 1762 with a British victory, leading to a short British occupation of the Philippine city.
Due to its central location in the Pacific sea trade routes, Manila received the moniker of the "Pearl of the Orient".
The Minor Basilica of San Sebastian is a beautiful example of Gothic Revival architecture. It was built using steel, which was a relatively new material at the time. The church was designed by Genaro Palacios, and it took 10 years to complete. The only all-steel church in Asia, it was officially consecrated on August 16, 1891.
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| The twin spires of San Sebastian Church |
After the 1898 Battle of Manila Spain ceded the surrendered city of Manila to the United States in order to keep it out of Filipino rebel hands.
The first cable across the Pacific Ocean was spliced between Honolulu, Midway, Guam and Manila in 1903.
The first trans-Pacific airmail flight began in Alameda, California in 1935, when the flying boat known as the China Clipper left for Manila. The craft was carrying over 110,000 pieces of mail.
The Japanese invasion of the Philippines started on 8 December 1941, ten hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor. After falling to the Empire of Japan on January 2, 1942, Manila was recaptured by joint American and Filipino troops towards the end of World War II.
During the 1945 Battle of Manila most of the city was flattened by intensive aerial bombardment by the United States Air Force and some 100,000 civilians were killed in Manila in February 1945. It was the second most devastated city in the world after Warsaw during the Second World War. As a result, relatively little remains of Manila's prewar and colonial architecture.
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| The destruction brought about by the Battle of Manila |
An estimated 6 to 7 million attended the Concluding Eucharistic Celebration in Luneta Park, Manila on January 18, 2015, ending the 5-day apostolic and state visit of Pope Francis in the Philippines, making it as the largest papal crowd in history.
During Pope Francis' January 2015 visit to Manila, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) issued 2,000 adult diapers to traffic enforcers. This unusual measure was taken to ensure smooth traffic flow and prevent officers from leaving their posts during the large crowds and long hours anticipated for the papal visit.
Manila is the most densely populated city in the world with 43,062 people per square kilometer.
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