Fort Santiago

Fort Santiago (Spanish: Fuerte de Santiago; Filipino: Moóg ng Santiago), built in 1571, is a citadel or castle built by Spanish navigator and governor Miguel López de Legazpi for the newly established city of Manila in the Philippines. The defense fortress is located in Intramuros, the walled city of Manila.

The fort is one of the most important historical sites in Manila. Several people died in its prisons during the Spanish Empire and World War II. José Rizal, the Philippine national hero, was imprisoned here before his execution in 1896. The Rizal Shrine museum displays memorabilia of the hero in their collection and the fort features, embedded onto the ground in bronze, his footsteps representing his final walk from his cell to the location of the actual execution.

It is near the Manila Cathedral and the Palacio del Gobernador (lit. Governor's Palace, currently the office of the Commission on Elections).

Text adapted from “Fort Santiago” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Fort Santiago ranks #1,001 of 7,738 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #2 of the 14 mapped in Philippines. Founded 1571, it is older than 37% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 718 atlas entries founded in the 16th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 9,168 times in the last 60 days, more than 92% of the atlas. 3 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. See how Philippines compares in the castle statistics.

View on the interactive castle map →

Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗