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Manila Etymology



Maynilà, the Filipino name for the city, comes from the phrase may-nilà, meaning "where indigo is found". Nilà is derived from the Sanskrit word nīla (नील), which refers to indigo dye and, by extension, to several plant species from which this natural dye can be extracted. The name Maynilà was probably bestowed because of the indigo-yielding plants that grew in the area surrounding the settlement rather than because it was known as a settlement that traded in indigo dye. Indigo dye extraction only became an important economic activity in the area in the 18th century, several hundred years after the Maynila settlement was founded and named. Maynilà eventually underwent a process of Hispanicization and adopted the Spanish name Manila.



Churches in Town:


𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐨𝐫 𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐉𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐬 𝐍𝐚𝐳𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐨

𝐒𝐚𝐧 𝐀𝐠𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧 𝐂𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐥𝐚 𝐂𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐥

𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐋𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐑𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐡


𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐨𝐫 𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐉𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐬 𝐍𝐚𝐳𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐨



The earliest church, built by missionaries of the Order of Friars Minor, was made of bamboo for the frame and nipa leaves as thatching. In 1574, Limahong and his soldiers destroyed and burned the church. Formerly a visita (chapel-of-ease) of Santa Ana, the Franciscan friar Antonio de Nombella founded the church in 1588 through the petition of Saint Pedro Bautista, then the superior of the Franciscans in the Philippines. The church was dedicated to the Sweetest Name of Jesus, with St. John the Baptist as its patron saint. It burned down in 1603, and the parish was temporarily turned over to the Jesuits until secular clergy objected. Governor-General Santiago de Vera initiated the full construction of the church in 1686. On April 8, 1639, the administration of the church was returned to the seculars who had always taken care of the church's welfare.


𝐒𝐚𝐧 𝐀𝐠𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧 𝐂𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡



San Agustin Church is located in General Luna St., Manila. The present structure is actually the third Augustinian church erected on the site. The first San Agustin Church was the first religious structure constructed by the Spaniards on the island of Luzon. Made of bamboo and nipa, it was completed in 1571, but destroyed by fire in December 1574 during the attempted invasion of Manila by the forces of Limahong. A second wooden structure built on the same site was destroyed in February 1583 by a fire that started when a candle ignited drapery on the funeral bier during services for Spanish Governor-General Gonzalo Ronquillo de Peñalosa.


𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐥𝐚 𝐂𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐥



The present Manila Cathedral rose phoenix-like from the desolate ruins of the old cathedral, which was bombed mercilessly along with the rest of the Walled City during the Battle of Liberation in 1945. Asserting back its distinction and dignity as Manila’s premier temple and metropolitan seat of the Archdiocese, the present structure emerged in the midst of the pathetic remnants of Intramuros, its open spaces colonized by squatters and its ancient ruins converted into cargo warehouses.

For many years after the war, the shell of the Manila Cathedral stood before the gaze of the statue of Carlos IV in Plaza Roma. The ruins of its famous façade remained. There was the rose window without the colored glass and the three portals with their receding arches, and the cathedral’s historical marker.

Manila’s clergy had thought of transferring the cathedral from its site in Intramuros.

Archbishop Michael J. O’Doherty and Archbishop Gabriel Reyes pondered the idea of transferring it to Mandaluyong. It was only through the efforts of Archbishop Rufino Santos that the cathedral was able to reign again in its rightful seat. Fortunately, the cathedral ruins were left to stand in place, still untouched by the bulldozers that leveled off most of the ruins of Intramuros. Santiago Picornell, a well-meaning Manila resident who thought of the historic significance of the ruins, talked out the American officer in charge with the clearing of Intramuros from bulldozing the few bits of history that were left of the cathedral. And from these final surviving fragments of once a majestic edifice, famous architect Fernando Ocampo spun a resemblance of the old cathedral’s design carried over to a new one that was to rise from the same ground, from the fresh wound of history in the heart of the Walled City.


𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐋𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐑𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐡



The Augustinian Chapter held on September 18, 1581, accepted the house of Maalat as a house of the Order under the name of Lagunoi, and the advocation of the Conception of Our Lady (Immaculate Conception). In the Chapter held on May 17, 1590, three resident priests of the monastery of San Agustín (Manila) were charged with the care of the natives of Malate; they were Frs. Alfonso de Castro, Diego Muñoz, and Ildefonso Gutiérrez. The report of the Father Provincial of 1591 reveals that the house of Malate together with Lagunoi had 1,200 persons, convent and church. In 1639, the convent of Malate contributed to the patriotic campaign of Governor-General Sebastián Hurtado de Corcuera, former governor of Panamá, who brought Peruvian soldiers as well as Panamanians and Genoese to fight against Muslim pirates, with a donation of two bells of seven arrobas and seven libras (approx. 154 kg. & 220 g.).


𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐥𝐚 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲


Manila was the first chartered city in the country, designated by Philippine Commission Act No. 183 on July 31, 1901. It became autonomous with the passage of Republic Act No. 409, "The Revised Charter of the City of Manila", on June 18, 1949.[12][13] Manila is considered to be part of the world's original set of global cities because its commercial networks were the first to extend across the Pacific Ocean and connect Asia with the Spanish Americas through the galleon trade. This marked the first time an uninterrupted chain of trade routes circling the planet had been established.


𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐥𝐚:

- Rizal Park

- Fort Santiago

- National Museum of Fine Arts

- The Manila Cathedral

- San Agustin Church

- San Agustin Museum

- Quiapo Church

- Malate Church

- Manila Ocean Park

- Casa Manila

- Intramuros

- Ayala Museum

- Divisoria Public Market

- Plaza Dilao

- Paco Park

- SM Mall of Asia

- Arroceros Park

- National Museum of Natural History

- Manila Zoo

- Quinta Market

- Dangwa


𝐅𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐥𝐚:

- Andres Bonifacio

- Gregoria De Jesus

- Jose Palma

- Rafael Palma

- Heneral Antonio Luna

- Emilio Jacinto

- Julio Nakpil

- Jacinto Zamora

- Mariano Gomes

- Teodora Alonso Realonda

- Trinidad Pardo de Tavera

- Macario Sakay

- Edilberto Evangelista

- Heneral Flaviano Yengco

- Roman Ongpin

- Pablo Ocampo

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𝐏𝐢𝐧𝐨𝐲 𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐥𝐚:

- Fernando Poe Jr

- Ryan Cayabyab

- Levi Celerio

- Nick Joaquin

- Alejandro Roces

- Gil Puyat

- Riza Hontiveros

- Francis Pangilinan

- Vilma Santos

- Sarah Elago

- Ariel Rivera

- Martin Nievera

- Gary Valenciano

- Francis Magalona

- Sarah Geronimo

- Judy Ann Santos

- Sharon Cuneta

- Raymond Lauchengco

- Chito Miranda

- Angeline Quinto

- Sunshine Cruz

- Camille Pratts

- Karyll

- Zsa Zsa Padilla

- Jaya Ramsey

- Lani Misalucha

- Bianca Gonzales

- Gretchen Barreto

- Tanya Garcia

- Ruffa Gutierrez

- Piolo Pascual

- KC Concepcion

- Maricel Soriano

- Vic Sotto

- Joey De Leon

- Eula Valdez

- Heart Evangelista

- Daniel Padilla

- Michael V

- Andrea Torres

- Katya Santos

- Ara Mina

- Pia Guanio

- Jose Manalo

- Maxene Magalona

- Francine Diaz

- Coco Martin

- Vice Ganda

- Rica Peralejo

- Julia Montes

- Karen Davila

- Luchi Cruz-Valdez

- Pia Hontiveros

- Maria Ressa

 
 
 

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