Description of the attraction
Manila's Quiapo district is considered the old business center of the city, where you can buy cheap things at very low prices. In addition, it is in this area that the Quiapo Church is located, famous for the holiday of the Black Jesus of the Nazarene, which is attended by millions of believers. In the heart of the area is Miranda Square, named after Jose Sandino Miranda, the Philippines' finance minister in the mid-19th century. The square, located directly opposite the Quiapo Church, is a popular venue for political rallies and rallies. It was here in August 1971 that a bomb exploded during a march of the Liberal Party of the Philippines, killing 9 people and injuring more than 100.
A large number of Muslims live in the Kuiapo area - the Golden Mosque and the Green Mosque have been built here for them. And around the church of Kuiapo there is always a real army of fortune-tellers who offer everyone not only to tell fortunes for the future, but also to buy some kind of healing herb. The biggest problem of the district is the sale of smuggled goods and small gangs of bandits.
Until the 1970s, Cuiapo, like the surrounding districts of Avenida, Binondo, Santa Cruz, Escolta and the so-called University Belt, was the center of trade, fashion, art, higher education and the residence of the Manila elite. But when the light rail transit road was built over Rizal Avenue, mud and exhaust fumes covered the streets below, making them muddy and gloomy. As a result, residents began to leave the area en masse, and bandits of all stripes came in their place. It was only after the People's Revolution of 1986 that the situation began to change, and flea markets and souvenir shops began to appear next to the popular Quiapo Church. In recent years, the Manila administration has embarked on a project to rehabilitate Kuiapo and the surrounding area, with a focus on the “university belt”. A section of Rizal Avenue from Rue Carriedo to Avenue Claro Recto has been converted into a pedestrian shopping arcade.
Despite all the disadvantages of the area, Cuiapo is considered a very popular tourist destination. The famous street of Felix Hidalgo is called “a photographer's paradise”, because here you can buy a variety of photographic equipment at prices much lower than market prices. But it is also a real paradise for lovers of all sorts of trinkets that are sold here at every turn. The street is always busy - pedestrians scurry about shopping, minibuses offer their services, and numerous tourists admire the ancient architecture of the area. At the end of the 19th century, Hidalgo Street was considered the most beautiful in Manila. Today, the city administration is developing projects for the restoration of houses located here from the late 19th - early 20th centuries, creating its unique flavor. Among the most interesting buildings are the Small Basilica of St. Sebastian, the already mentioned Church of Cuiapo, the Ocampo Pagoda, the House of Nacpil-Bautista, where the composer Julio Nakpil lived, the Paterno mansion built in the neoclassical style, the Enriquez family mansion, which was once called the most beautiful home in the Philippines, and other homes.
