ANNIVERSARY NUMBER 1919 



75 



The Walls of Old Manila 



Among the many structural antiquities that 

 abound in Manila the most interesting is, 

 beyond question, the ancient system of forti- 

 fications that surround the spot where stood 

 the original Malay city of "Manila." The 

 existing walls, bastions, redoubts and curtains 

 whose proportions and magnitude are not 

 realized by the casual observer, are construct- 

 ed of Guadalupe stone and offer an excellent 

 illustration of the designs and defensive 

 methods of the times in which they were built. 

 On the arrival of the early Spaniards in 

 Manila in 1570 under Martin de Goiti, there 

 existed on or about the site of what is now 

 Fort Santiago a Filipino fortress surrounded 

 by a pallisade and armed with twelve pieces of 

 Moro artillery manned by Moro subjects of 

 Rajah Lacandola, under the direction of a 

 Portuguese adventurer. The landing of the 

 expedition having been resisted, the Spaniards 

 attacked and captured the fort. 



OXE OF THE OLD BASTIONS THE INTERIOR OF WHICH HAS BEEN MADE INTO AN AQUARIUM 



41 guns, 29 of bronze and 12 iron the former, 

 ranging from two to twenty-five pounders and 

 the latter from three to thirty-two pounders. 

 The garrison was ridiculously small compared 

 with the armament and consisted of one 

 Spanish company of infantry composed of one 

 commissioned and eight non-commissioned 

 officers and 60 enlisted men. The 41 guns 

 were manned by one gunner and twelve 

 artillerymen. There was also one company 

 of native troops, Pampangans, 90 men in all, 

 who performed the service of laborers. While 

 the number of men in the garrison was ridi- 

 culously small, the pay awarded them for 

 their services was much more so, for the same 

 report says that the monthly allowance to the 

 warden was $66.60: to the lieutenant of the 

 Spanish infantry, $15; the adjutant, $5.72; 

 the ensign, $4; the sergeant, $3; the gunner, 

 $4; the captain of the Pampangans, $6; his 

 ensign, $2.50; his sergeant, $2.50; while the 

 Spanish enlisted men received $2 and the 

 Pampangans $1.25, all these amounts being 

 in Mexican currency. 



Starting from the Fortress of Santiago the 

 wall facing the bay is of thin light construc- 



BAGUUBATAN QATE TO WALLFD CITT 



The Spaniards went into the fight with the 

 battle cry of "Santiago" and gave that name 

 to the captured works as soon as they were in 

 possession of them and from that time the 

 place became the starting point of the system 

 of fortifications that stand today a monument 

 to the engineering skill of those times. 



The nature of the construction was deter- 

 mined by the almost successful attempt made 

 by the Chinese corsair Limahong to capture 

 the city in November 1574, Sioco, the Japan- 

 ese commander of the attacking expedition 

 succeeding in breaking through the wooden 

 pallisade into the interior of the fortress. 

 Philip II, by royal decree, ordered the con- 

 struction of a permanent stone fortification to 

 guard against future attacks and uprisings. 



Permanent construction was commenced in 

 1590 under Perez Gomez Dasmarinas and 

 continued until 1872, the principal part of the 

 the work done by Juan de Silva in 1609, Juan 

 Nino de Tabora in 1626 and Diego Fajado in 

 1644. In 1729 the walls were restored and 

 sixteen years later were heightened. 



Fort Santiago was originally a castellated 

 structure without towers and nearly trian- 

 gular, biIF~underwent material changes from 

 time to time as occasion demanded,.. An in- 

 teresting official report dated 1739 shows that 

 in that year Fort Santiago was defended with 



PARIAN GATE 



