Intramuros

Intramuros
District of Manila
Walled City of Intramuros
A portrait of "Intramuros" Manila in 1684 by Alain Mallet
Motto: Insigne y siempre leal Ciudad de Manila Distinguished and ever loyal City of Manila
Intramuros Location within Metro Manila 14.591496, 120.973985
Coordinates: 14°35′N 120°58′E / 14.583°N 120.967°E / 14.583; 120.967Coordinates: 14°35′N 120°58′E / 14.583°N 120.967°E / 14.583; 120.967
Country	Philippines
Region	National Capital Region
City	Manila
Congressional District	District 5
Settled	June 12, 1571 (1571-June-12)
Founded by	Miguel López de Legazpi
Area
• Total	0.67 km2 (0.26 sq mi)
Population (2010)
• Total	4,925±0
Time zone	Philippine Standard Time (UTC+08:00)
Zip codes	1002
Area codes	2
Website	intramuros.gov.ph

Intramuros (Sp., "within the walls") is the oldest district and historic core of Manila, Philippines. It is also called the Walled City, and at the time of the Spanish Colonial Period was synonymous to the city of Manila itself. It was the seat of government when the Philippines was a component realm of the Spanish Empire. Districts beyond the walls were referred as the extramuros of Manila, the Spanish for "outside the walls".

Construction of the defensive walls was started by Spanish colonial government in the late 16th century to protect the city from foreign invasions. The 0.67-square-kilometre (0.26 sq mi) walled city was originally located along the shores of the Manila Bay, south of the entrance to Pasig River. Guarding the old city is Fort Santiago, its citadel located at the mouth of the river. Land reclamations during the early 20th-century subsequently obscured the walls and fort from the bay.

Intramuros was heavily damaged during the battle to recapture the city from the Japanese Imperial Army during the Second World War. Reconstruction of the walls was started in 1951 when Intramuros was declared a National Historical Monument, which is continued to this day by the Intramuros Administration (IA).

The Global Heritage Fund identified Intramuros as one of the 12 worldwide sites "on the verge" of irreparable loss and destruction on its 2010 report titled Saving Our Vanishing Heritage, citing its insufficient management and development pressures.