The Beauty and History of Fort Santiago....

Fort Santiago

          Fort Santiago or Fuerza de Santiago in Intramuros is one of the most eventful historical places in the Philippines.Fort Santiago was the second of three Spanish forts built to defend the anchorage at Apra Harbor. Fort Santiago was used as the base of power. The fort was constructed at the tip of Orote Peninsula on the southwestern coastline of Guam. Now, it has become a tourist attraction, where you will see the shrine of Jose Rizal. It is also the place where you will see the museum that showcases a replica of Jose Rizal’s prison cell.it is Miguel Lopez de Legaspi’s ciltade, for the newly established city of Manila. It was named after St. James the Great Santiago, the patron saint of Spain. Before the Spanish occupation, it was the settlement of Raja Sulayman, a Muslim Filipino. Before it became the Fort Santiago, first it was a kingdom of a Muslim chieftain Rajah Sulayman. Today you can still feel the horrors of the past as you walk by the dungeons and imagine when people were made to suffer inside those prisons especially during World War 2, as the Japanese imprisoned hundreds of Americans and Filipinos and allowed them to die inside those dungeons.

           In Fort Santiago you can experience different activities like Horse-back riding, riding in a Calesa and eating different Filipino cuisines, when you actually go there you’ll feel the most outrageous feeling of the history. Inside the place you can find Statues of Rizal,as a tribute to him and his works.There is the dungeon where Jose Rizal was held as a criminal,there is where Jose Rizal was locked in when the Spaniards accused him as a revolutionary. This is where he spent his final days and where he wrote his final poem "Mi Ultimo Adios". There are also Dr. Jose Rizal’s Final Steps, because as visitors enter Fort Santiago metal footsteps are engrave on the ground. This is to embed The Philippine National Hero's final steps as he walk to his death in Luneta Park on December 30 , 1896.There are also Vandalisms in Fort Santiago, because some tourist literally want to leave their mark inside Fort Santiago. It may look harmless but numerous vandalism has been putting Fort Santiago on the verge of destruction. In front of the main gate of Fort Santiago is the MOAT, the first line of defense surrounding the fortified city with water.
   

      
           We actually had so many historical places that contains beauty and unforgettable memories of our heroes and it is actually the signal or an instrument for us to take care of it so would  be a nice memory for the next generation and for the next, next century, Long live Fort Santiago!