Activities in Manila 

Museums

• Bahay Tsinoy
• Intramuros Light and Sound Museum
• Museo ng Maynila (Museum of Manila)
• National Museum of the Filipino People
• Museo Pambata (Children's Museum)
• Parish of the Our Lady of the Abandoned - Sta. Ana (pre-Spanish artifacts)
• The Museum - De La Salle University-Manila
• UST Museum of Arts and Sciences

National Museum of the Filipino People

The National Museum of the Philippines is the repository and guardian of the Philippines' natural and cultural heritage. As one of the lead government cultural agencies, it is tasked to achieve the goals of instilling cultural consciousness and a sense of pride and nationalism among Filipino citizens through its activities covering the sciences, education and culture.

Established in 1901 as an ethnography and natural history museum, and subsequently housed in its present building which was designed in 1918 by the American Architect, Daniel Burnham, the National Museum has since then broadened its concerns in the arts and sciences. Today, it occupies the former Old Congress Building where the arts, natural sciences and other support divisions are housed and the adjacent former Finance building in the Agrifina Circle of Rizal Park now called The National Museum of the Filipino People where the Anthropology and Archaeology Divisions are housed.


The Museum - De La Salle University-Manila

The Museum at De La Salle University-Manila is a university-art museum with a collection of Philippine modern art generously donated by the heirs of Wili and Doreen Fernandez. Prominent artists, nine of them National Artist for Visual Arts, have works in The Museum, namely, Fernando Amorsolo, Jose Joya, H.R. Ocampo, Arturo Luz, Vicente Manansala, Mauro Malang, Cesar Legaspi, Anita Magsaysay-Ho, Carlos “Botong” Francisco , Manuel Rodriguez, Sr., Bencab, Ang Kiukok, among others.

The extensive compendium of art was borne out of the couple’s passion for art which motivated them to build an enviable private collection known as the Wili and Doreen Fernandez Art Collection. The collection boasts of rare drawings of “Botong” Francisco, Manansala, Amorsolo and Bencab. There are also sculptures by Arturo Luz, Solomon Saprid and Educardo Castrillo. The art collection is displayed in a program of rotating exhibitions to showcase all artworks in the collection – based on various themes, artists, or artistic style. Artists, not from the collection, are also invited to exhibit their artworks at the hallway gallery of The Museum.

The Museum supports the University’s objective to raise the cultural and artistic consciousness of the members of the community.

Cemeteries

• Chinese Cemetery
• La Loma Cemetery
• Manila American Cemetery and Memorial
• Manila North Cemetery

Chinese Cemetery

What makes the Chinese Cemetery an attraction in Manila?" you are probably asking. That's also a question I asked. After all, cemeteries are known for tombs, graves and mausoleums.

That's why this place is a treasure trove. And it is a place to escape from the busy pace in the city.

Founded in the 1850s, tombs, graves and mausoleums show designs from various periods. Designs vary from modern 21st century to earlier Chinese or Philippine architecture to East-meets-West designs.

These designs in the Manila Chinese Cemetery present the history or evolution of architecture not only in the country.Size of lots and buildings depends on wealth and status in society.

Toilets and sinks are common fixtures in more modern mausoleums. Some have chairs,
tables, chandeliers and even fridges inside.

These may be pomp but mausoleums have practical uses. They honor the dead, but also keep traditions and closer family ties alive. They serve this purpose especially during All Saints' Day on November 1.

Between towering mausoleums and creeping graves I saw this tomb...

The writings are in Spanish! (Click on the picture for a larger image.)

Or so I thought. I checked "fallecio" in the internet. The closest I got was "fallecido" - a Spanish word for deceased male.

Built in 1894, this is probably one of the oldest tombs in the Manila Chinese Cemetery. This means that the dead person's relatives continue to pay for this lot - for 122 years now!

Cherubs on the tomb show that the person was Catholic. In fact many tombs, graves and mausoleums have Catholic images on them. Sometimes crosses and dragons co-exist in one mausoleum.

This religious blend is more evident in the Chok Hock Tong temple, probably the oldest Chinese temple in Manila.
I'm not sure if bells are part of Chinese temples. But they become distinctly Catholic when tolling during a Chinese funeral.

Go inside the temple and prepare for a surprise. Behind Chinese deities are Catholic images. I must say this is a unique Filipino and religious display.

That stopped me for a while. But I realized that beliefs and practices evolve through time. And this is common in the Manila Chinese Cemetery.

Places of worship

• Archdiocesan Shrine of St. Jude Thaddeus
• Basilica Minore de San Lorenzo Ruiz (Binondo Church)
• Basilica Minore de San Sebastian (San Sebastian Church), the only all-steel church
  in Gothic style in Asia
• Basilica Minore de la Immaculada Concepcion (Manila Cathedral)
• Basilica Minore del Nazareno Negro (Quiapo Church)
• Buddhist Temple (Malate, Manila)
• Cathedral of the Child Jesus - Iglesia Filipina Independiente (Aglipayan)
• Chinese Temple (Binondo, Manila)
• Mosque del Globo de Oro (Quiapo, Manila)
• Hindu Temple (Paco, Manila)
• Iglesia de la Parroquia de Santo Niño (Pandacan, Manila)
• Iglesia de Santa Cruz
• Nuestra Señora de Guia Church (Ermita Church)
• National Shrine of St. Michael and the Archangels (San Miguel, Manila)
• Nuestra Señora de Remedios Church (Malate Church)
• Parroquia de San Fernando de Dilao (Paco, Manila)
• San Agustin Church

Basilica Minore de la Immaculada Concepcion (Manila Cathedral)

Manila Cathedral, also known as the Minor Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, is the only cathedral in the world that was built and renovated six times. It was the seat of the Archbishop of Manila during the Spanish Colonial Period in the Philippines, and still remains to be the ecclesisastical seat of the Archdiocese of Manila.

The See of Manila, with jurisdiction over all the Philippine Islands and suffragan to the See of Mexico, was erected in 1578. The first bishop, Domingo de Salazar (born 1512), arrived in Sept., 1581.

The first cathedral, made of nipa and bamboos, was built in 1581. It was damaged by a typhoon in 1582 and razed by fire in 1583.

The new cathedral, which was made of stone, was made in 1592. It was destroyed by an earthquake in 1600.

The third cathedral, with three naves and seven chapels, was started in 1584 and blessed in 1614. It was toppled by another earthquake which shook Manila in 1645.

The magnificent fourth cathedral was constructed in 1654 to 1671 under Archbishop Miguel Poblete. It was severely damaged in 1863 by a very strong earthquake that even toppled the Palace of the Governor General of the Philippines. In 1880, another earthquake toppled its bell tower and since then until in 1959, the cathedral remained towerless.

The fifth cathedral was constructed in 1870-1879. It was solemnly blessed in December of 1879. The center cross of the dome is a reference point of astronomical longitudes of the archipelago. The magnificent cathedral was toppled into ruins by the bombs of World War 2 in 1945.

The present cathedral was constructed in 1954 to 1958 under Archbishop Rufino Santos of Manila and under the supervision of National Artist for Architecture Awardee, Architect Fernando Ocampo. It was elevated into the rank Basilica Minore in 1981 by Pope John Paul II.

The cathedral is also the resting place for former prelates who served the Archdiocese of Manila. Among those interred in the cathedral crypts (similar in style to that of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican City) are Rufino Cardinal Santos, the first Filipino cardinal), Gabriel Reyes, the first Filipino archbishop and Jaime Cardinal Sin, the prelate who is considered to be one of the leaders of the EDSA Revolution in the Philippines that ended the 20-year regime of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos.