Intramuros. Old Spanish Manila, where 400 years of Philippine political, economic, social, religious, and cultural affairs took shape, overlaying centuries of prehistoric settlements.

Before the Spanish came, a wooden kuta (fort) belonging to Rajah Sulayman existed where Fort Santiago now sits. During pre-Spanish times, the site already a trade center, was also a political and military center. For centuries, Chinese merchants had plied the Pasig River, dealing with the people on its banks.

Intramuros—the city "within walls" was the seat of Spanish sovereignty in the Orient for 327 years. Threatened from the sea by attacks from Chinese, Japanese, Portugese, Dutch, Muslim, and English pirates and navies, and from the land by exploited natives, the Spanish fortified the city. High stone walls, moats, 10 baluartes (bulwarks) and 3 baluartillos (small bulwarks), 8 puertas (gates) with drawbridge, 2 reductos (redoubts), and 3 revellins (ravelins) were constructed in strategic positions. The city’s 4.5-kilometer-long walls encompassed 64 hectares of land, the Ciudad Muralla (Walled City)—as Intramuros was known then.

Despite the fortifications, in 1762 the British invaded Intramuros, damaging and looting it. After two years of British rule, Intramuros was returned to the Spaniards. To strengthen its defenses, in 1764 the Spaniards added the last 2 reductos and 2 puertas. These final additions, which faced Manila Bay, made Intramuros the best fortified city in the East.

Intramuros was also described as "the most beautiful, magnificent, and regal city in the Orient." Grand churches and monasteries, stately government buildings, and plush houses graced the city. However, the walled city was not always a picture of elegance. Disasters, both natural and manmade, continually changed Intramuros. Fires and earthquakes were its worst enemies.

In 1898, at the end of the Spanish-American war, the Americans supplanted the Spaniards and began a permanent change in Intramuros’ lifestyle. The American colonial rule commenced the modernization of the Old Walled City. Commerce was expanded; education, sanitation, and urban development were emphasized; and traditional secular and social matters were de-emphasized. In order to make way for roads leading into Intramuros, major portions of the walls and 2 gates were destroyed. Intramuros’ moat, deemed a health hazard, was filled in.

During WW II, the Japanese occupied Intramuros for 3 years. Fort Santiago became a prison camp where hundreds of guerillas and innocent people were incarcerated, tortured, and killed.

During the closing days of WW II, bombings by the American liberation forces and fighting reduced Intramuros to a city of debris. San Agustin, Intramuros’ oldest stone structure, was the only church left standing.

Intramuros degenerated into a clutter of squatters and outlaws, shanties and trucks. Container vans that passed through Intramuros shook the streets, causing further damage to the ruins, and threatening the foundations of San Agustin Church.

Finally, in the 1960s, efforts commenced to restore Intramuros. Today, work to preserve and revive the City Within Walls continues. Businesses are encouraged to establish themselves in buildings of appropriate architecture. Filipinos have come to realize that the walled city is a priceless treasure we can share with our own present and future generations, and those of the world.