“Manila was Intramuros. As the “Noble and Ever Loyal” capital of the Spanish Empire in the East, the City was protected by a complex of walls and fortifications, hence the name “Intramuros,” which means “within the walls.” The Walled City by the Manila Bay covers an area of 64 hectares, with walls stretching to 4.5 kilometers in varying heights of 4.5 to 6 meters and thickness of 2 to 2.5 meters. There were seven gates in Intramuros: Postigo, Santa Lucia, Real, Parian, Isabel II, Santo Domingo, and Almacenes. The first five were restored after World War II, while the last two were lost during the American period. The walls and fortifications also featured nine bastions or baluartes: the Baluarte Plano Luneta de Santa Isabel; the Medio Baluarte de San Francisco; the Baluartillo de San Francisco Javier; and the Baluartes de San Miguel, San Diego, San Andres, San Gabriel, Dilao, and Santo Domingo.
As the locus of Spanish Imperial power in Asia, Intramuros was the home of the most important offices of state, such as the Palace of the Governor-General, the Royal Audiencia, and the Cabildo or Ayuntamiento. Economically, the City was likewise coveted. As the buckle of the trade belt known as the Manila-Acapulco Galleon Trade, the Walled City served as a window for Europe to the dazzling riches of the East, and for the longest time served to indirectly connect China with West, in a time when the Celestial Empire of the Ming and Qing dynasties isolated themselves from the rest of the world.
Its status as the seat of the Roman Catholic Church in the Philippines is notable as well, as it witnessed the rise and fall of seven great churches: the Manila Cathedral, and the churches of San Agustin, Our Lady of Lourdes, San Ignacio, San Francisco, Santo Domingo, and San Nicolas. The Walled City is also notable for being the home of the oldest universities and colleges in Asia namely the Universidad de San Ignacio (1590), the Colegio de San Jose (1601), the University of Santo Tomas (1611), Colegio de San Juan de Letran (1620), Colegio de Santa Isabel (1632), Universidad de San Felipe (1640), Seminario Conciliar de San Carlos (1705), Colegio de Santa Catalina (1706), Colegio de Santa Rosa (1750), Escuela Pia de Manila (1817), and the Ateneo Municipal (1859). The earliest schools were founded by the Spanish Catholic missionaries, and by the time the Americans arrived in the Philippines in 1898, Filipinos were among the most educated in all of the Far East.
In view of its importance to Philippine history, the State has bestowed on it several titles and recognitions over the years, such as in 1951, when the congress enacted Republic Act No. 597 that declared Fort Santiago as a National Shrine, and the walls and fortifications as National Monuments. In 1993, the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization inscribed the San Agustin Church in the World Heritage List. In 2014, the walls and fortifications of Intramuros, also known as Ciudad Murada, was declared as National Cultural Treasure by the National Museum of the Philippines. But the jewel on its crown is the Presidential Decree No. 1616 of 1979, when the State recognized, in the form of a law, Intramuros’ identity as a “Monument to the Hispanic period of Philippine history,” effectively creating a dedicated agency, the Intramuros Administration, that will focus solely on the restoration and orderly development of the Walled City, an honor not granted to any other heritage sites in the country.”
