The forming of the "Gran Manila" is illustrative of the classical Spanish
tendency to adapt to its environs, the people and the surrounding culture.
Intramuros opened up its doors and blended with the people living around
it.At the end of the 18th century, the concept of city-citadel began
to be abandoned in favour of a re-assessment of the exterior space beyond
Intramuros. Towards 1814, the population of Intramuros was over 8,000 people,
while the population in the outlying areas was over 50,000. In 1840, the
right bank areas of the Pasig had become densely-populated
The defence plans drawn up for Intramuros aimed at
demolishing the outlying areas in order to create a clear area: the
50-yard line. Dilao, San Antón and San Miguel are transferred, La Ermita
remains where it is, and the disappearance of Binondo was envisaged.
the great city emerges in contrast to the ultraconservative,
traditional concept of Intramuros, as a result of the work undertaken by
the Topographical Committee and its General Plan for Manila.
Decree finally establishes the right to build and make the outlying areas more
attractive and extensive. The demolition process is halted. However, the
relative success of the defence plan meant that a large green area was
established around the city walls.
The Magistracy and province of Manila
are created, comprising 29 villages under one sole jurisdiction, and this
formed the Great Manila, the predecessor of what was later known as the
"Metro Manila Commission".
The exclusive, enclosed precinct of
Intramuros gave way to the wide, open spaces surrounding it, which had a
heterogeneous population. Mestizo architecture of stone and wood started
springing up and its use spread to urban services.
The 19th century was one of good fortune, described in Europe as
the century of progress, of steam and of good taste, and had a perceptible and
resounding echo in the Philippines.
|Manila and its districts. 1884. SHM By the end of
the 19th century, most of the Manila districts had become consolidated,
and many of them had acquired a personality of their own.
||Plan of Manila included in the Manila - Tarlac
itinerary. Juan Álvarez and Emilio Godínez. 19th century. SGE The
abstract chessboard model adapted to difficult site conditions and
followed the urban planning model adopted for Hispanic
|Manila: its suburbs. 19th century. SHM In this
19th century plan, we can see just how much the city and its districts
have grown. In the same area and during the 16th century, there were only
two small towns: Manila, on the left bank of the Pasig River, and Tondo on
the right bank.
||The city of Manila and the villages beyond the walls
in 1842. Antonio de la Yglesia. SHM The principal districts of Manila
were Binondo, Tondo, Santa Cruz with the Bilibit prison, San Miguel on the
banks of the Pasig, Quiapo and Sampaloc with their houses of cane and nipa
|Manila and its outlying villages. Mariano de
Goicoechea. 1831. SHM The growth of the city beyond its walls was due
on the one hand to a natural urban and demographic expansion, and on the
other hand to the presence of the old rural churches around which new
inhabitants were settled down.
|Sketch of Manila and its suburbs. Emilio Godínez and
Juan Álvarez Arenas. 19th century. SGE The systematization of this
urban planning model was set down on paper in the Ordenanzas Generales de
Descubrimiento y Nueva Población promulgated by Philip II, known also as
the Indies Acts.
||Project for a public prison. Emilio Díaz and Armando
López Ezquerra. 1857. SHM|
|The Manila cemetery, located in the village of Paco.
Ildefonso Aragón. 1823. AGI The Paco cemetery was built by the Town
Council after the 1820 epidemic. This oval-shaped chapel topped with a
dome was the burial place for captains general and prelates.
||A triple-branched street lamp made by Lacarrière.
19th century. AHN José Echeverría, the engineer posted in Europe, was
commissioned to supply the street lamps for illuminating the "Puente de
España" over the Pasig River.|
|Project for the monument commemorating Magellan.
Mid-19th century. AHN The monument commemorating Magellan was ordered
to be built in 1848 by the governor, Clavería, at the top of the steps on
the landing stage for passengers opposite the new Isabel II gate, which
connected Intramuros with the esplanade and the "Puente de España".
||Access to the Ordinary School for Schoolmistresses in
Manila. BN In the early 19th century, when trading and city prosperity
were at their height, a new mestizo stratum of society emerged, and this
was to fight for its rights.|
|Magallanes Avenue. SHM This popular avenue in
Manila was the principal venue for society in the second half of the 19th
century; here they combined leisure time activities with a visit to the
||Exterior of the Paco cemetery. BN This cemetery
was built as a general burial place for
|Ground plan, elevation and sectional view of the
"Salón de Isabel II". F. Cortés. 1844. SHM This building, made from
wood and thatched with palm over bamboo cane in the typical style of
Philippine houses, was constructed on the Bagumbayan field to commemorate
the coming-of-age of the Queen.
||Project for the construction of an avenue in Manila
starting at the exit of the Parian gate ravelin. SGE After the 1868
revolution, an urban planning project was drawn up for Manila; this
comprised the construction of fourteen roads on the south side of the
river and thirteen others on the north side. Besides dividing up the city,
these would also serve as firebreaks.|
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2004 Robert S. Gardner