Holy Week 2026: Intramuros, the lost heart of devotion

Intramuros, literally the “Walled City” of Manila, was built four and a half centuries ago, but it remains to be one of the most renowned places in the country. Today, it has become a site of faith and devotion, far removed from its dark history seemingly embedded in the country’s identity.

As the Filipino faithful commemorate holy week, Intramuros is again at the forefront, with many of the pilgrims visiting the churches within its walled sanctuary.

READ: Holy Week 2026: A Devotional and Travel Guide

Bloody past

In the more than 300 years of Spanish rule in the Philippines, the colonizers had strictly implemented the spread of catholicism as much much as they guarded their biggest stronghold in Asia. This strong catholic faith withstood years of skirmishes between the two countries.

Intramuros was key to this success. Literally translated to “Walled City,” Intra-muros defended the city from pirates and other foreign invaders, its high walls serving as fortress and sanctuary for settlers. Within these walls were several churches built to sustain the faith even as the enemy attempt to bombard the rock-solid barricade outside.

READ: Jesus‘ life is retold in audio drama ‘The Christ’ released in time for Holy Week

Fort Santiago became the heart of Intramuros in the 1570s, witness to the fierce resistance of the locals from colonizers and oppressors, eventually becoming a place of torture and death for many Filipinos. This would continue well into the Japanese occupation when most of the structure would fall into ruins during the Second World War, while some sites were turned into concentration camps.

But Intramuros remained as a stark reminder of the bygone era of colonization, and the resilience of Filipinos in the darkest of times. For within its walls, people drew their strength from the seven churches that stood as bastions of faith.

READ: Undiluted devotion: Exploring the centuries-old tradition of Visita Iglesia

Seven churches

San Agustin Church

Impressively, the San Agustin Church, the oldest stone church built in 1607, was among the few buildings left standing to this day. Now known as the Archdiocesan Shrine of Our Lady of Consolation and Cincture, or the Immaculate Conception Parish, it was considered the major seat of the Catholic faith in Manila at the time, Intramuros Administration’s Information Officer Diego Gabriel B. Torres told the Inquirer.

Built under the auspices of the Order of St. Augustine, it obtained a Unesco World Heritage Site citation for its cultural and historical significance.

Not only was the church left standing after the war, it was also the first church established within the walls that was destroyed three times since construction began in 1571.

Torres said San Agustin Church served as a refugee camp for the residents of Intramuros during World War II, and was spared from arson.

Manila Cathedral

Reconstructed seven times over since it was founded in 1581 as the first cathedral in the country, Manila Cathedral celebrates the Blessed Virgin Mary’s Immaculate Conception on its feast day every December 8 — one of the remaining religious traditions within the walls called the “Grand Marian Procession.”

It is the only other church that was rebuilt in Intramuros after the war.

The cathedral is crucial not only as the first cathedral in the country, but also as the seat of the Archbishop of the Philippines, whose congregation later established more churches and dioceses nationwide.

In 1981, the Manila Cathedral was declared a minor basilica in the country and is formally known as the Minor Basilica of the Immaculate Conception.

San Francisco Church

Meanwhile, on the east of Intramuros was the San Francisco Church and the Chapel of the venerable Orden Tecera – the compound of the Franciscans.

First built in 1578, then again and again until its final iteration in the 18th century, the San Francisco Church was the “church of the masses,” Torres said.

It also housed an image of the Immaculate Conception, which is also presented alongside several others during the Grand Marian Procession every December.

However, the entire Franciscan compound fell victim to the war in 1945, and the Franciscan order moved to Makati City. The lot where the compound previously stood is now occupied by Mapua University.

Sto. Domingo Church

A historic house of faith for Filipinos who fought in the Battles of La Naval in 1646, the Sto. Domingo Church was built near the Pasig River to serve as the Dominican order’s motherhouse.

Every October pre-war, the Sto. Domingo Church – one of the largest of the seven – celebrates the Feast of La Naval, where Our Lady of the Holy Rosary of La Naval de Manila is presented in a grand procession.

Japanese planes bombed the church in 1941 first, and it was further destroyed to nearly nothing during the late Second World War. Now, the Sto. Domingo Church stands in Quezon City.

San Nicolas de Tolentino Church

The San Nicolas de Tolentino Church, also got destroyed in the war, along with the original image of the Jesus Nazarene that it housed. It was famous for its Feast of Nuestra Señora de la Consolación y Correa, celebrated every September.

It stood south of Intramuros under the care of Augustinian Recollects. It was frequently destroyed by calamities, but was left as ruins during the war. It was then fully demolished in 1959.

Notably, the image of Jesus Nazarene in Quiapo Church brought out during the annual Traslación was created in the 1700s based on the original copy housed in the San Nicolas de Tolentino Church.

San Ignacio Church

Another historical building found southwest of Intramuros was the San Ignacio Church, the first Jesuit compound, which included a motherhouse and two colleges. While initially a religious compound, the establishment was turned into a church after 1768 when the Jesuits were evicted,

Upon their return in 1859, they established what is now known as the San Ignacio Church. However, the church’s lifespan barely reached a century when it was torched by the Japanese military in 1945.

Now, part of the Jesuit compound – reconstructed and redeveloped – is the Museo de Intramuros.

Lourdes Church

Though last among the major Spanish churches built within the district, the Lourdes Church also holds memories of Our Lady of Lourdes’ devotees and Capuchins or Franciscan friars from Italy.

Upon its veneration of the devotion in 1892, faithfuls celebrated the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes de Manila every February.

During both the Spanish-American War and the Battle in Manila, Capuchins protected the image of Our Lady of Lourdes. While friars were massacred, and the church was destroyed by Japanese, the image survived and was brought to the San Agustin Church.

The Lourdes Church has been rebuilt in Quezon City.

Intramuros after the war

Intramuros was considered not only the religious center but also the heart of Manila.

“Dito nagsimula ‘yung pag proselytize ng Catholic faith not just in Luzon but across the country itself. Intramuros had the feel of a convent sa dami ng religious institutions because you also had several convents, and schools run by religious orders,” Torres shared.

“Within the walled city, nandito yung mga major devotions, major churches, cofradias and associations with roots as early as 1500s and the 1600s. Yun yung importance niya. Siya yung major seat of religion of Catholic faith at least in the city,” he added.

After the war – with only one church left standing – Torres said Manila was left “soulless.”

“With the destruction of Intramuros in World War II, nawalan ng religious center. Parang yung Maynila ay isang siyudad na walang kaluluwa kasi wala yung Intramuros,” Torres lamented.

Based on the census, Intramuros’ population declined from 16,000 in the 1930s to 800 in 1949.

Since then, the revival of the churches became a difficult feat, with properties inside the walls sold to the private sector. Even the Manila Cathedral nearly gave in to the privatization of Intramuros, but it was the late Cardinal Rufino Santos who pushed for its reconstruction.

“Immediately after the war literal wipe out yung buong siyudad. Natira lang sa city yung walls, the ruins of the churches, and there was no effort to revive those churches,” Torres also said.

The ruins of the old buildings, including the churches, in Intramuros were even demolished due to safety concerns amid urbanization efforts in the city.

It was not until the 1980s that several attempts to re-establish the religious spirit of the district were made with the establishment of the Intramuros Administration.

Visita Iglesia sites

In recent years, one of the most anticipated by devotees is the Intramuros’ Good Friday procession, which begins and ends at the San Agustin Church. On the same day, a theatrical reenactment of the passion and death of Jesus Christ called “Senakulo” is held at Plaza de Roma, or the Plaza Mayor, just across Manila Cathedral.

The Intramuros Administration has also set up stations of the cross at Plaza de Roma, separate from that of the San Agustin Church, for Visita Iglesia.

Apart from the San Agustin Church and the Manila Cathedral, there are six chapels within Intramuros where the faithful may practice their devotion.

These are the Sacred Heart of Jesus Chapel in Lyceum of the Philippines University, the Letran Chapel in Colegio de San Juan de Letran, the Santa Rita Chapel in Mapua University, the Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine in Fort Santiago, the Father George Willmann, SJ Chapel at the Knights of Columbus, and the Chapel of Jesus the Divine Teacher at the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila.

Torre highlighted that even though there’s more to be done in reviving the religious spirit of Intramuros, for a city filled with traffic and the everyday rush, the walled city has once again become a place where the faithful can exercise their spirituality.

“By doing the Visita Iglesia, it will bring you around Intramuros, and you’ll see places that are otherwise closed,” he began.

“I think that’s the heart of religious tourism. Providing the faithful a different experience in an otherwise familiar environment – the urban environment of Manila – which still connects to the heart of the city,” Torre continued.

He also noted that: “This was not invented by the administration or our government. It is something that has always been there – destroyed during the war, slowly being nurtured for future generations.”

Eight decades later, though it has not come close to what it used to be, at its heart, Intramuros will always have the spirit of devotion deeply rooted in its history and its walls. /edv