Ciudad Murada means 'walled city'. The fortified place was Maynilad, the core of everyday activities in a Muslim settlement by the river in the 16th century. When Miguel Lopez de Legazpi came to the place, he decided to make it as the center of Spanish activities in the colony. A pentagonal wall was built by the Spanish to ward off Chinese invaders. It encloses a .67 square kilometer of what was called Intramuros, Latin word for 'within the wall'.
Access to Intramuros is by gates or puerta, with draw bridges. This is the reason why I thought of the similarities between Viseu and Intramuros in my previous post.
Though severely damaged during the World War II, Intramuros remains as the center of cultural heritage to what is now cosmopolitan Manila.
Uncle Wiki said that Intramuros is listed by the Global Heritage Fund as one of the 12 worldwide sites on the verge of irreparable loss and destruction. This is really making me sad as I've been into Intramuros so many times (atop it's walls is one of my silent sanctuaries in this busy city of Manila), I know there's so much truth in it... now I don't want to touch something political here so I wish I can won the lottery so I can donate my winnings for the restoration of this national historical monument.
~maria
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