The Spanish Make Manila a Walled Capital

On June 24, 1571, the Spanish commander Miguel Lopez de Legazpi established Manila as the capital of Spain's East Indian realm, choosing the strategic junction where the Pasig River enters Manila Bay. The settlement occupied the site of the prehistoric Tagalog polity of Maynila, which Spanish forces had claimed after months of warfare and an ensuing pact with local leaders, including Rajah Sulaiman III, Lakan Dula, and Rajah Matanda. The Spanish Crown soon granted the city a coat of arms and the title Ciudad Insigne y Siempre Leal, making it the administrative, ecclesiastical, and military hub of the Captaincy General of the Philippines.

Early Manila was built largely of perishable materials, leaving it vulnerable to fires and external raids. Following a destructive assault in 1574 by the Chinese pirate Limahong, colonial authorities initiated plans to fortify the settlement in stone. Under Governor-General Santiago de Vera, Jesuit priest Antonio Sedeno designed early fortifications conforming to the Laws of the Indies. The royal instructions carried by the subsequent governor-general, Gomez Perez Dasmarinas, formally mandated enclosing the perimeter in masonry. Over decades of intermittent construction that extended into the nineteenth century, the complex developed an irregular defensive belt stretching roughly three to five kilometers around an area of roughly sixty hectares, incorporating moats, gates, ravelins, and major bastions such as the Baluarte de San Diego.