On another unexpected trip to the Philippines, I managed to find the time to explore the downtown area of Manila. It was a Sunday, so it was not as hectic as it would be on weekdays. Nevertheless there were still a lot of people there. One of the best places to start in a trip to downtown Manila was Chinatown. As expected, Chinatown is the heart and soul of the Chinese community here in Manila and probably the entire Philippines. A lot of trade goes through here and it would be surprising to some to know that this is also one of the oldest parts of the city.
Chinatown, also known as the district of Binondo, was beyond the walls of Intramuros where the seat of government was at that time, and this where all the Chinese were rounded up by the Spanish at that time. Naturally, in their bid Christianize the people, a church was built by the Spanish in Binondo. In true Spanish fashion, a whole town was built around the church with a large plaza in front of it. The Nuestra Señora del Santissimo Rosario Church or the Church of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary was initially built in the year 1596 and is certainly one of the oldest structures in the country. It is also considered one of the oldest churches in the Far East.
The now Basilica has a large octagonal bell tower on the right, this apparently is what is left of the original structure as the rest of the church needed to be rebuilt several times due to earthquakes. This is an all too familiar story of Philippine churches. Since it was one of the earliest structures to be built, it wasn’t designed with earthquake baroque architecture, which was meant to make it stand against earthquakes. This is a fitting start to explore what is Manila’s historical quarter.
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