Did You Know ? . . . There were v.
The photo below shows the 1792 fourth Manila Cathedral Structure. Art by Fernando Brambila.
Intramuros is dubbed the “Rome of the Far East” due to the numerous houses of worship that stand within its walls. Like Rome, one would find a church or a chapel in almost every corner during the walled city’s heydays. Today’s generation is quite familiar with the seven churches and the two chapels of Intramuros prior to WWII, photographs of which are in abundance online.
Here are the lists of 18th-century Century Churches of Intramuros:
• Catedral Metropolitana de Manila - seat of the Archbishop of Manila.
• San Agustín - mother church of the Order of St. Augustine (Augustinians), stood through all the calamities that had leveled Intramuros for more than four centuries
• San Ignacio - mother church of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), attached to the Universidad Maximo de San Ignacio de Manila, and then utilized by the Real Seminario de San Carlos after the order was expelled from the spanish empire in 1768. Destroyed by the earthquake of 1852 and 1863. Demolished and converted to Cuartel de España
• San Nicolás de Tolentino - mother church of the Order the of Augustinian Recollects. Destroyed during WWII.
• San Francisco - mother church of the Order of the Friars Minor (Franciscans) Destroyed during WWII.
• San Juan de Dios - mother church of the Order of the Hospitallers of St. John of God, attached to the hospital of the same name. Destroyed during the earthquake of 1863. Remodeled thereafter and destroyed during WWII.
• Santo Domingo - mother church of the Order of the Preachers (Dominicans). Destroyed by the earthquake of 1863. Rebuilt in the gothic style and destroyed during WWII.
18th Century Chapels of Intramuros:
• Capilla de Santa Misericordia - mother chapel of the Hermandad de la Real Mesa de Santa Misericordia, and was attached to the Colegio de Santa Isabel, became the provisional cathedral after the British Invasion of 1764. Became an oratory chapel after the earthquake of 1863.
• Capilla de San Andrés - attached to the original Colegio de Santa Potenciana, became the provisional cathedral after the earthquake of 1645. Demolished after the British Occupation of 1764.
• Capilla de la Inmaculada Concepción - the most familiar chapel that survived in photographs, mother chapel of the Venerable Orden Tercera, became the provisional cathedral after the earthquake of 1863. Destroyed during WWII.
• Capilla de San Juan Bautista- attached to the Colegio de San Juan de Letran, and later to the Beaterio de Santa Catalina. Destroyed by the earthquake of 1836. Rebuilt being incorporated inside the school building of Letran.
• Capilla de Santa Clara - attached to the Monasterio de Santa Clara, and was famous for the choir of unseen vestals. Destroyed during WWII.
• Capilla Real de la Nuestra Señora de la Encarnación - the military chapel which was not under the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Manila, but directly under the Holy See. Destroyed during the British occupation.
After the British Invasion of 1764, the Capilla Real and the Capilla de San Andres was destroyed and never rebuilt. The church of San Ignacio was destroyed by the earthquake of 1852. After the earthquake of 1863, the church of San Juan De Dios was incorporated to the hospital complex while the Chapels of the Misericordia and of San Juan de Letran were incorporated to their respective school buildings.
By the late 19th century, two more churches would be built - Lourdes and the second San Ignacio which made up the seven churches that we know, not realizing that one century prior, our forefathers’ picture of the churches of Intramuros were quite different. And it was quite a colorful city actually. Unfortunately, all these churches that made a wonderful city, a “Rome of the Far East” would be totally destroyed during WWII, leaving only two to this day.
Most of the Religious Order (Dominican, Franciscan, Jesuits etc.) that own the Churches decided to leave the confines of Intramuros (which was limited to 166 acres or 0.67-square-kilometer) due to overcrowding and transfered to a much bigger land area and likewise, the city is getting bigger and new devotees are coming in from the provinces. Even before WWII, some religious order were already acquiring properties outside the Intramuros (Dominican UST's 21.5 hectare land in Sampaloc).
References :
1. NHCP historical markers
2. Convents of Manila by Dr. Pedro Luengo
3. Ciudad Murada: A Walk Through Historic Intramuros by Dr. Jose Victor Z. Torres
4. The Philippine Islands 1493-1803 by Blair & Robertson.
5. Malaspina Expedition in Manila, Museo Naval, Madrid.
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