Fort Santiago

Fort Santiago is a citadel in Intramuros, the walled city of Manila, begun in 1571 by the Spanish navigator Miguel López de Legazpi and rebuilt in stone by 1593 under Governor-General Gomez Perez Dasmarinas. The fort takes a nearly triangular plan defended by walls 22 feet high and 8 feet thick, running 2,030 feet in perimeter, with the demi-bastions of San Fernando and San Miguel and a cavalier battery called Santa Barbara guarding its approaches, and a front gateway rising 40 feet above the entrance. The fort is best known as the site of the 1896 imprisonment and execution of the Philippine national hero Jose Rizal, commemorated today by the Rizal Shrine museum within its grounds. Since 1992 the Intramuros Administration has managed the fort's restoration, and it now functions as a historical park hosting theater, public promenades and other civic events.