Remedios Circle
| Remedios Circle | |
|---|---|
| Plaza de la Virgen de los Remedios Remedios Rotonda Rotary Circle |
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| Location | |
| Malate, Manila, Philippines | |
| Coordinates: | 14°34′13.33″N 120°59′11.58″E / 14.5703694°N 120.9865500°ECoordinates: 14°34′13.33″N 120°59′11.58″E / 14.5703694°N 120.9865500°E |
| Roads at junction: |
Remedios Street Jorge Bocobo Street Adriatico Street |
| Construction | |
| Type: | Traffic circle |
| Maintained by: | Department of Public Works and Highways |
Remedios Circle, also known as the Plaza de la Virgen de los Remedios,Remedios Rotonda, and Rotary Circle, is a traffic circle in Malate, Manila in the Philippines, serving as the intersection between Remedios Street, Jorge Bocobo Street and Adriatico Street. The circle and a traversing street are both named after Nuestra Señora de los Remedios (Our Lady of Remedies), the patroness of the nearby Malate Church, and is one of two major open spaces in Malate, the other being Plaza Rajah Sulayman.
Originally a cemetery in colonial times, the circle is known today for being the center of Manila's nightlife, as well as a popular cruising spot for men who have sex with men.
Remedios Circle was originally the Malate Cemetery, built in a manner similar to what is now Paco Park. It was one of two traffic circles built in Manila during the Spanish colonial period, the other being the Carriedo Fountain on Plaza Santa Cruz, although it wasn't originally built to serve as a traffic circle. For much of its history, Malate and the neighboring district of Ermita were largely residential districts home to the Philippine elite, and the area around the circle was similarly residential, where it was surrounded by nipa-roofed houses and banana plantations, and a circular fountain—which has since been lost—stood at the circle's center.
The circle and its immediate area were destroyed by aerial bombs dropped in the Battle of Manila during World War II. Immediately after the war, the Malate Cemetery was turned over to the newly-independent Philippine Government by the Church in the Philippines, demolished, and the bodies re-interred at the Manila South Cemetery. Although Malate and Ermita were subsequently rebuilt, both districts suffered from significant urban decay as former residents began moving out for the suburbs, and the area became a center for prostitution, vagrancy and petty crime.
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