CASA MANILA

Welcome to a whole house of a museum. Casa Manila was constructed based on archival building plans. Discover here how a wealthy family -- member of the ilustrado or privileged class -- used to live.

The museum recreates the lifestyle during the colonial period through antique furniture, paintings, lighting fixtures and other objects of decorative art.

From the moment you enter the wide piedra china-paved zaguan (corridor) where guests used to get off from their carriages, to the courtyard, all the way to the interior; bits and pieces of our many foreign influences are evident.

The vases are Ming, the wooden furniture is Victorian. Walls are Baroque. The high ceilings and wide narra planks for flooring are Castillan. And the capiz windows and louvers were adapted by the Spaniards to provide better ventilation in our tropical climate.

Even before World War II, most of the houses and some churches in Intramuros were already damaged by major earthquakes in 1863 and 1880.

Casa Manila, a "colonial lifestyle" museum, is only a section of Plaza San Luis Complex, a commercial-cultural complex. As with all new structures built within the walls of Intramuros, facades here are based on colonial period designs.

The facade of Casa Manila was copied from a house (c.1850) at Calle Jaboneros in San Nicolas, a district across the Pasig River. In that area, the first floor of houses were rented out to shopkeepers. In Casa Manila, you will find shops in the ground floor where you may buy antiques, art objects and souvenir items.

The walls of the ground floor are made of adobe stones. In the Spanish colonial period (late 16th century to late 19th century), "adobe" or volcanic tuff was quarried from Makati and Meycuayan, Bulacan for building material. The stones in Casa Manila were quarried from Bulacan. The uppermost floor, the living quarters, was made of wood. Since wood was lighter than stone, it was less hazardous during earthquakes. Notice that the uppermost floor extends outwards, helping to shade pedestrians during the day. Its real use though was for the stability of the living quarters during earthquakes. One will find the structure adjoining Casa Manila is stone on both floors. When the Spaniards first arrived, they built in this manner. This had to be revised though because it could not withstand earthquakes. Neither could inhabitants of such structures.

Zaguan and Patio

Zaguan is an Arabic word meaning "corridor". It is through the zaguan that the carriages or carruajes entered and deposited the passengers by the stairs.

The zaguan and the patio are paved with piedra china (granite). The stones were originally used by the Chinese as ballast for their junks. These were later sold in Manila for paving pedestrian lanes, patios and streets. The fountain is a feature that appeared after running water came to Manila in 1882.