Ever since I came back to the Philippines, I’ve been really excited to get a chance to re-learn the deep and rich history of the Philippines, so really, there’s no better place to start than the than with my Old Manila Walks tour of the walled city of Intramuros, located in the heart of Manila.
Did you know that Intramuros is a Latin word which means, “within the walls”? Betcha didn’t know that, did ya? And that was just one of the many things we learned about in our tour. Oh, if the walls could talk, the stories they could tell! Intramuros was built by the Spaniards during the 16th century whose purpose was to be a fortress for what was then, the city of Manila. Thus the term, “the walled city“.
This was really a city within a city. The walled city within Manila had lots of cool stuff in it, from restaurants, to souvenir shops, schools and even a church. Ivan took us on a special tour of the San Agustin Church and showed us some secret rooms within the holy grounds. One secret room our Old Manila Walks tour guide took us into had a balcony view of the entire church. Furthermore, within this secret balcony, was I was an extremely HUGE organ. And you know I love ORGANS, I love playing with my organ, and it was great to see this HUGE organ which, I have to admit, was WAAAAAAY bigger than my organ.
Aside from that, we also checked out the mausoleum which, according to Ivan, was the final resting place to such great Filipinos such as the famed painter Juan Luna… and also Michael Jackson… ok…. maybe not Michael Jackson… but I really didn’t stick around to find out who else was there coz Harold was shaking in his boots with the thought of ghosts…
We had an awesome walking tour courtesy of our friend from Old Manila Walks, Ivan Man Dy. Ivan loves the Philippines so much that he takes people around various places in Manila such as Intramuros, Chinatown and the like. He knows these places inside out and will surely give you lots of info that’ll have you going…. WOW!
So next time When In Manila, be sure to take a walk with Ivan’s Old Manila Walks and come check out the historical sites, secret treasures and other neat places around the heart of Manila.
P.S. Anyways, aside for the walls and the church, we also visited the Chinese-Filipino museum within the walls of Intramuros, be sure to come back and see part 2 of WhenInManila’s Intramuros feature!
P.P.S. Here’s the continuation episode for this Intramuros tour with Old Manila Walks Bahay Tsinoy / Filipino-Chinese Museum Inside Intramuros
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CONTACT INFO
Name of venue: Intramuros, San Agustin Church
Activity: Walking tour c/o Old Manila Walks
Contact Person: Ivan Man Dy
Website: https://www.oldmanilawalks.com
E-mail: fun@oldmanilawalks.com
Telephone: +632 7113823
Mobile: +63917 3291622
