The fairest of them all

Every nation has it's greatest and grandest residence and the Philippines is no exception. Palacio de Malacanang, or more popularly known as Palasyo (palace) was originally a private summer residence built by Don Luis Rocha in 1750 then sold to Colonel Jose Miguel Formente and finally purchased by the Spanish Colonial Government to serve as the permanent residence of Spanish Governors General, when the latter's Palace in Intramuros was leveled by a strong earthquake. Then, it became the American Civil Governors residence until Manuel Quezon became the president of the Commonwealth Philippines.

Credit photo from Malacanang facebook page.

The palace has been the residence of eighteen Spanish Governors General, Fourteen American Civil Governors and all the Philippine Presidents with Emilio Aguinaldo as an exception.

The current facade of the Palace. Photo, from Malacanang facebook page

The palace even predates America's White House. The palace complex is close for public viewing since Marcos declared Martial Law but before he became dictator the palace is open to everyone, now it can be considered as one of the most isolated and secured complex in the world. Security check points starts half a kilometer from the Palace Gate.

 

Since Pnoy came to power the palace security has loosen up a little bit allowing boats to pass by and take pictures of the interiors.





                       All pictures are from Malacanang Palace facebook page.

Wandering at a Hall

A lavish and elegant palace would not be complete without it's main masterpiece, the grand hall, and Malacanang Palace is no exception. Rizal Hall in Malacanang Palace is probably the most elegant, lavish and flamboyant hall in all of Manila atleast since the Marble Hall of the Ayunatamiento de Manila was reduced to rubbles. It boasts of a mammoth chandelier made in then Czechoslovakia that had to be dismantled piece by piece in order using a manual guide on how to dismantle and bring it all back together and hid into a steel vault for safekeeping after the Palace servants/officials during the height of the second world war learned that the Japanese soldiers was salivating for it. The carvings were of beautiful floral patterns was done by Isabelo Tampingco the most sought after then, mirrors mounted on the walls where made in France and the carpets had to be imported from Spain.

Credit: Life Magazine for the picture.

But little of those where left when former First Lady Imelda "steel butterfy" Marcos ordered a major facelift (quite literally) of the Palace, she had in her mind, moved the height of the roof a few meters, had it's walls from the south side of the Palace move several meters, had all the terraces and balconies joined together to form a masive facade, had the grand hall enlarge and all interiors updated according to her Renaissance-Native-Las Vegas fusion style which resulted to a irreparable damage to the historical significance of the place.

The Palace Grand Hall before it's 1970's massive alteration.

A slice of Paris.

    Old Manila can  be very fascinating, although we can only appreciate it's beauty through old photographs one can really imagine how beautiful and splendid Manila was. Located near Manila's Central Park, Rizal Park, Luneta Hotel is a flamboyant and elegant structure reminiscent of Paris, in fact, it is the only surviving French Renaissance building in Manila. Ravage by both war and neglect until a golden hearted businessman, Beaumont Holdings, that obviously has appreciation of past and has an eye for beauty bought the property and restored it to it's old glory.

Luneta Hotel (left) and the University Club during the Golden Age of Manila, probably in the 1930's.

    Built in 1918 and designed by Spanish Architect- Engineer Salvador Farre it became one of the most prestigiuos hotels during the 1920's and 30's, some notable personalities that graced the hotel was US President Dwight Eisenhower and even wrote that the hotel although small was one of the most romantic places he had been.

The hotel is still currently undergoing extensive restoration, because the hotel has been left disrepair it became fragile so the engineers had to completely demolished the entire interiors and left only the shell of the building, they call it retrofitting, constructing a completely new structural steel frame inside an existing shell to make it safe and sound. When restoration is done it will boast of a magnificent interiors reminiscent of the bygone era.

Luneta Hotel and the adjacent University Cub after the brutal air bombing of the entire Manila, only one district of Manila was spared from aerial bombings by the Liberation Forces, the Santa Ana district and up to this day still exudes the remains of Old Manila.

To fool the eyes

The San Agustin Church has some of the most magnificent tromp'leoil mural painted throughout its ceiling and wall in done by Italian artists Cesare Alberoni and Giovanni Dibella in 1875, at first glance you would think it's carving but when you look closely, the carvings you thought that adorns the ceilings are actually tromp'leoil. In 1993, the church together with three more spanish period baroque churches scattered around the country was designated as a world heritage site.

The ceiling made to look like it was carved out.

Standing steel

San Sebastian Church is entirely made of steel and was  prefabricated in Belgium and was transported by 8 ships to the Philippines ,engineers built the church in steel so it can withstand earthquakes that occasionally visits Manila. Said to be designed by Gustav Eiffel, the same engineer who did the Eiffel Tower and Statue of Liberty, it is reputedly the only all steel church in Asia and the only prefabricated steel church in the world.. In 2006,it was included as a Tentative list for possible designation as a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO.

The back side of the San Sebastian Church.

But recently the Basilica is facing another possible major disaster, it may have withstood earthquakes but rust is eating this architecturally important structure. The World Monument Funds listed the church as one of the 100 Most Endangered sites.

One of the two towers of the Neo- Gothic Church.

The church has been declared a National Historical Landmark by the Philippine government and restoration and preservation of the church is funded by both concern citizens and the state.

Parthenon

Manila is home to some of the most admiring edifices built in neo-classical manner. The Americans during their occupation introduced the architecture to the city to change the old spanish landscape of Manila into their own, and so The Central Post Office was crafted. Juan Marcos Arellano, a prominent architect designed the colossal building in the 1930's, which will later become his masterpiece. The landmark was damaged during the Battle for Manila but was later rebuilt incorporating some of the original details.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some friends posing on a fountain in front of the Post Office.

 

 

 

Manila is a city of contrast, it's beautiful and ugly, it's rich and poor and it's chaotic and calm. Definitely it still has more untold stories that she wanted to share.

Memorare Manila

The Battle for Manila which lasted from February 3 to March 3, 1945 was fought by the Americans and Filipinos against the occupying Japanese power. The battle which lasted for one month led to the devastation of once the most beautiful city in the far east and left 120,000 Filipino unarmed civilians dead (according to Carlos Celdran), 1,000 American liberators and 16,000 Japanese soldiers in Intramuros alone. In the month-long battle, the Americans and Japanese inflicted worse destruction on Manila than the German Luftwaffe had exacted upon London. Manila was second to Warsaw in devastation after the world war.

 

Memorare Manila monument was erected to honor the innocent victims of the war.

"This memorial is dedicated to all those innocent victims of war, many of whom went nameless and unknown to a common grave, or even never knew a grave at all, their bodies having been consumed by fire or crushed to dust beneath the rubble of ruins."
"Let this monument be the gravestone for each and every one of the over 100,000 men, women, children and infants killed in Manila during its battle of liberation, February 3 - March 3, 1945. We have not forgotten them, nor shall we ever forget."
"May they rest in peace as part now of the sacred ground of this city: the Manila of our affections."