Hispanic

Structuring of
the Colonial
Space
By: DANNIE LOU RELACION

MANILA: THE GENESIS OF AN

INTRAMURAL COLONIAL CITY

Royal instructions dispensed to Miguel Lopez

de Legaspis expedition required the
establishment of a permanent urban base in
the the Philippines from which to springboard
the imperial agenda in Southeasth Asia.
Spains immdiate objectives in the Philippines
were to use the islands as a base for further
expansion, to establish the colony as a
center for the production and export of
tropical spices, and to convert the natives to
Christianity.

GEOGRAPHER ROBERT REED (1978, 16)

REPORTS:

The Adelantado (Miguel Lopez de Legaspi)

was told consider a number of potential sites
before making a choice because strategies
of efficient exploration, balanced territorial
expansion, and profitable trade ultimately
hinged on the selection of a strategically
located headquarters. In addition, Spanish
authorities offerded advice concerning the
proper layout of the proposed colonial
capital. They envisaged a substantial fortress
as the nucleus of the imperial outpost.

 1570-

Legaspi sent his lieutenant, Martin

de Goiti, on a mission to Manila who
returned a year later.
May 19, 1571- Legaspi laid the foundation
of Manila from the charred remains of
Sulaymans palisaded kingdom.
June 24, 1571- Legaspi officially
inaugurated a municipal council and
proclaimed Manila as the capital of the
new territories under the Spanish Crown.

The newly conquered settlement was

described by Legaspi in a letter to the King of
Spain dated April 20, 1572:

The village of Maynilad is situated on the

tongue of land extending from east to west
between the river and the sea, and a fort had
been built at the extreme western end of the
peninsula at the entrance of the fort. The sea
makes a very large harbor about thirty
leagues in circumference. Around the fort, a
hundred and fifty huts for the Spanish officers
were built by native labor, and the land
around the city was apportioned to men of
the colonizing party (Filipiniana Book Guild
1965, 195).

June 24, 1574 by a decree by Philip II- Manila

was envisioned as the Spanish almacen de la
fe (display window of the Faith), and
bestowed the title El Insigne y Siempre Leal
Ciudad
1590 The colonialist proclaimed the
foundation of three primary ciudades de
espaoles in Cebu, Nueva Caceres (Naga),
and Nueva Segovia (Lal-lo, Cagayan) and
two villas de espaoles in Vigan (in ilocos Sur)
and Arevalo (in Iloilo). Only Cebu, Naga, and
Vigan flourished as major urban centers for
they were sustained by a concentration of
population and economic activities resulting
from their entitlements as diocesan capitals.

Map of Manila Diccionario GeograficoEstadistico-Historico De Las Islas

Filipinas. Madrid 1851.

The Great Urban and Architectural

Transformation
Cabildo - (a municipal building), and a
general market.
Middle of the1580s Domingo Salazar, the
first Bishop of Manila, and Father Antonio
Sedeo, a jesuit, pushed for the
construction of buildings and houses using
stones and tiles

The city of manila from an oil painting on the

interior of a wooden chest, circa 1640-50
Museo de Arte Jose Luis Bello, Puebla, Mexico

Intramuros: The Bastion of Authority

1590 when governor-general Gomez perez

dasmarinas undertook the massive project of
building the 3, 916 meter pentagonal perimeter
walls of volcanic tuff(adobe) and brick fill in with
earth, with 1 bastion in each angle.

EXTRAMUROS: Living Beyond the Walls

THE CHINESE PARIAN

THATS

ALL FOR ME, THANK

YOU FOR LISTENING