Casa Manila and San Agustin Church

Casa Manila and San Agustin Church face each other across General Luna Street in the south of Intramuros, and together they make the walled city’s most atmospheric corner. Casa Manila is a recreation of a grand bahay na bato, the stone-and-wood townhouse of the colonial elite, built as part of the Plaza San Luis complex and furnished with period pieces from the nineteenth century. You climb a wide staircase from the stone ground floor, where carriages once stood, to the living quarters above: a sala with capiz-shell windows and sliding ventanillas for the breeze, a formal dining room with a punkah fan, a chapel, bedrooms with four-poster beds and a two-seat toilet that always draws a laugh. Across the street, San Agustin Church, finished in the early seventeenth century, is the oldest stone church in the country and survived the destruction of 1945. With three other churches it forms the Baroque Churches of the Philippines World Heritage site, and its painted trompe l’oeil ceiling, carved choir stalls and cloister museum are unmissable. This page links to the official Intramuros hours page, which lists Casa Manila’s opening times.

How to visit: Casa Manila is in the Plaza San Luis complex at the corner of Real and General Luna streets. The Intramuros Administration lists it as closed on Mondays and open Tuesday to Sunday from 9:00 to 18:00, with last entry at 17:00. A modest fee is charged at the door. San Agustin Church is directly opposite; it is a working parish, so the church itself may be closed to sightseers during Masses and weddings, while the San Agustin Museum in the old monastery keeps its own hours and charges its own small fee.

What to see: in Casa Manila, take time over the details that made these houses work in the tropics, from the capiz-shell windows and ventanillas to the azotea terrace and the internal courtyard. Then cross to San Agustin and look up at the painted ceiling, which tricks the eye into seeing carved stone. In the museum, the cloisters, the sacristy, the choir loft with its carved seats and the crypt where Legazpi is said to be buried are the highlights.

Making the most of it: start here at opening time on a weekday, when the plaza is quiet, then walk north to Manila Cathedral and Fort Santiago. Dress modestly for the church, with shoulders and knees covered. The Bambike tour starts in the same complex if you would rather see the rest of Intramuros by bicycle, and cafes in Plaza San Luis are good for a cold drink.