Intramuros

A true Spanish Baroque treasure, with magnificent trompe-l'œil ceilings and a splendid high altar. Consecrated in 1607, this ancient building managed to survive the Second World War (although it, too, sustained heavy damage) and is said to be the oldest stone church still standing in the Philippines. It was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1993 as part of the group "Baroque Churches of the Philippines". Miguel López de Legazpi (1502-1572), the first Spanish Governor-General of the Philippines, is buried in a tomb near the high altar; other funerary monuments can be found along the walls or set into the floor. Much of San Agustín's neighbouring monastery was damaged during the war and was subsequently refashioned into exhibition space for the San Agustín Museum (see Museums, below). The church is a very popular venue for weddings; don't be surprised if you encounter a ceremony in progress during your visit. Church itself is free when it is for services. However to enter at other hours, you will have pay for and enter through the adjacent museum.

A museum dedicated to the history and contributions of the Chinese-Filipino community. ₱100, ₱60 students/children.

A recreation of a typical upper-class colonial Intramuros home. The interiors are filled with antique furniture, artwork, and other artifacts from the Spanish era, all carefully arranged to illustrate what life was like for wealthy families of that period. ₱75, ₱50 students/children.

Using images, sounds, and animatronics, the museum takes visitors on a journey through Philippine history under Spanish rule. The facility is housed in a building whose facade reproduces the appearance of the old mother house of the Beaterio de la Compañía de Jesús, which stood on the site until its destruction during the Second World War. ₱100 per person for groups of 10 or more; smaller groups are reportedly charged a higher per-person rate (contact the museum to confirm arrangements).

Located within the walls of Fort Santiago (see above), this small museum contains exhibits related to the life and work of José Rizal, the national hero of the Philippines.

Adjacent to the San Agustín Church (see Churches, above), this museum's very impressive - if rather poorly labelled - collection includes Spanish colonial-era ecclesiastical vestments, sacred vessels, religious art, manuscripts, and other important cultural artifacts. The building itself is steeped in history, fashioned out of the surviving portions of a monastery that was heavily damaged during World War II.

Built in the 1820s and reconstructed after the 1863 earthquake, this building once housed the Spanish colonial government's customs offices and other administrative units. It was damaged during the war but survived to re-enter government service - at one point housing the Central Bank of the Philippines - only to fall victim to a 1979 fire that caused massive destruction. There are plans to restore the building (whose exterior walls have survived more or less intact) for the use of the National Archives.

Built by the Jesuits and consecrated in 1889, the church's magnificent interiors were completely destroyed in 1945. There are plans to restore the ruined building for use as an ecclesiastical museum.

The external appearance of this post-war building closely mimics that of the Augustinian Provincial House, an extension of the nearby San Agustín convent that was built on the site in the 19th century and destroyed by fire in 1932.

A few years after the Americans took over from the Spanish in 1898, the fetid, swamp-like moat around Intramuros was drained and filled in. The newly reclaimed land was later covered with grass, spiced with a few sand pits and sprinkled with water traps. Result: a 4,326 yd, 18 hole, par 66 greensward that wraps around the city's ancient walls and makes for an interesting (if rather short) golfing experience.