Description of the attraction
Malacanang Palace is the official residence of the President of the Philippines. It is located on Calle José Laurel in a house built in 1750 in the Spanish colonial style. During the American control of the Philippines, another building was built for the government of the country - Calayan Hall, which was later turned into a museum.
There are several versions of the origin of the name of the palace. One by one, the word Malakanang comes from the Tagalog phrase "mei lakan dian", which means "a nobleman lives here." On the other hand, the word "mamalakaya" was used to refer to local fishermen who laid out their catch on the other bank of the Pasig River, where the palace stands today. Finally, in Tagalog, the word "malakanan" means "to the right", and the palace stands just on the right bank of the river.
The palace building was built in the 18th century as the summer residence of the Spanish aristocrat Don Luis Roch. Then it was bought by Colonel José Miguel Formente, and in 1825 by the government of the colony. Since then, Malakanang Palace has been the temporary residence of each Governor General. Later, when control of the Philippines passed to the United States, the palace was restored, and many other administrative buildings were built nearby. Emilio Aquinaldo, the first president of the Philippines, was the only head of the country who did not live in Malacanang. The palace was seized by rioters several times, and it was even bombed during such seizures.
The palace gained fame during the reign of President Ferdinand Marcos and his wife Imelda, who lived here from 1965 to 1986. The First Lady personally oversaw the reconstruction of the palace in accordance with her extravagant taste. In the 1970s, after a student riot, access to the palace was banned. And when President Marcos was dismissed in 1986, the palace was taken by storm by the locals, and the interior of the Marcos home was publicly exposed by Western media, including Imelda's famous shoe collection of a thousand pairs.
After the popular uprising of 1983-86, the palace was reopened to the public and turned into a museum. Presidents Corazon Aquino and Fidel Ramos occupied the nearby Arlequi House. Only in 2001, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo returned the title of government seat to Malacanang. However, the current President of the Philippines, Benigno Aquino III, sits at the Bahai Pangarap villa, and Malacanang again acts as a museum.
Visitors enter the palace through the Hall, whose floors and walls are lined with Filipino marble. Opposite the entrance - the Main Staircase, on the left - the prayer room, on the right - the Hall of Heroes. The doors leading to the Main Staircase depict the characters of Philippine mythology Malakas (Strong) and Maganda (Beautiful) - the first man and woman to emerge from a huge bamboo stem. On the sides of the doors are sculptures of lions. Portraits of the Spanish conquistadors Hernan Cortez, Sebastian del Cano, Fernand Magellan and Cristobal Colon hang along the Main Staircase itself. To the right of the lobby is the Hall of Heroes, which is accessed by a passage with 40 images of famous Filipinos painted in 1940. The most important treasure of the Reception Hall is the three Czechoslovakian candelabra purchased in 1937. During the Second World War, they were taken apart and safely hidden. On the walls of the Hall there are portraits of all the presidents of the Philippines. The largest room in the palace is the Ceremonial Hall, also known as the Ballroom.
