.16 THE AMERiCAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL August, 1925

L A New Description of Old Manila To visitors the old walled city of Ma-

nila is still an object of interest as few types of this style of medieval building exist intact, at least not in the western hemisphere. With the exception of Goa it is the oldest European settlement in the orient that has enjoyed a continuity of ex-istence, as the cities of Batavia, Malacca, Macao and Singapore were all founded subsequent to its establishment by Ade-lantado Legaspi in 1571.

And it is an object of interest with its crowded memories during the three cen-turies it lay dreaming away under the lions and towers of Castile. The streets are of course narrow, but the cobble-stones have given way to a more modern paying, which itself leaves much to be desired. These streets were driven by the engineers of Le-gaspi so that one side was always in the shade. The massive walls themselves were added later under the administration of Gomez Perez Dasmariiias and were direct-ed by the Spanish engineer Leonardo Itur-riano, who also laid out the plans for the barracks, almacenes or markets and stores, and the old palace. This was located op-posite to the present Ayuntamiento and was ruined in the earthquake of 1645. On its site was raised the magnHicent palace built by Venegas, the favorite of Governor Diego Fajardo. The funds necessary for its con-struction were wrung by extortions and crimes of this tyrant from the populace of Manila.

Condemned to death on sixty-one counts, he died from the effects of torture. The

By PERCY A. HILL

Franciscan Church, Walled CitlJ, manila

confiscated palace housed forty-three royal governors down to its destruction by the earthquake of Corpus Cristi in 1863. Only the foundation of a new palace was ever com.pleted.

Fort Santiago, the citadal, was built on the site of the original fort of Raja Soli-man, the Moslem founder of M aynilad, and the balance of the city on the circumscribed area lying between the Pasig river and the Bay. At that time it was a sandy spit covered with the white-flowering tree call-

ed Nilad from which the city takes its name. Surrounded by saline marshes and nipa swamps it was no difficult thing to construct the moats that once formed its first line of defense. In this narrow area :>f about four hectares were located the civil and ecclasiastical edifices the cathedral, royal palace, Ayuntamiento capitol, and the many churches whose towers and domes form such striking objects to ships sailing up the thirty-mile bay.

The plaza de arm as (now McKinley) was the n1ain center of Castilian activity in the Orient. During the first centuries all business and commerce was transacted within the walls except that of the Chi-nese Parians and Alcaycerias, and the roy-ad almacenes. The royal hospital . and chapel stood where the Army and Navy Y. M. C. A. is now being built.

The main gate, then called the Puerta Real, first opened upon the Pasig near the Dominican church and was used for cere-monial entrance. This was abandoned after the English occupation as being too low to allow of the elaborate pomp, the banners and carozas to enter, and it was changed to Parian gate in the east wall.

The gates were those of the Parian, op-posite and overlooking the Chinese trading quarter of that name; Santo Domingo, facing the Pasig river and the church of San Gabriel opposite; the Isabel gate, later called the Royal gate, opposite the old Calle Real, now Calle General Luna; the gate of Santa Lucia near San Agustin's church

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