The Rizal Monument
Guarded around the clock.
Ernest Malsin — CC BY 4.0 · Froi Rivera — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Vyacheslav Argenberg — CC BY 4.0 · Judgefloro — CC0
Manila's best-known and largest park, covering 58 hectares between the walled city and Manila Bay, which locals call Luneta. In Spanish times it was an open ground outside the walls, and here José Rizal was executed on 30 December 1896, an execution that sparked the revolution against Spanish rule. At the heart of the park stands the Rizal Monument, which holds his remains and is guarded around the clock by sentries in ceremonial uniform. In this same park the independence of the Philippines was formally proclaimed and recognised by the United States on 4 July 1946. Today the park is the city's breathing space: lawns and walkways, a musical dancing fountain in the evening, a Chinese garden and a Japanese one, and a large relief map of the Philippine archipelago set in a pool. Around its edges are the three buildings of the National Museum and Manila Ocean Park at the edge of the bay. The park is free and open all day, and loveliest in the evening, when it cools down and families come out to stroll. Intramuros and the National Museum are a short walk away.
Guarded around the clock.
Evening shows to music.
The islands in a pool.
Ermita, Manila, between Intramuros and Manila Bay
National Museum of Natural HistoryThe newest of the National Museum's buildings and the favourite of families, hou5 minutes walk4.6
National Museum of AnthropologyThe museum of the history and archaeology of the Filipino peoples, in a neoclass5 minutes walk4.7
National Museum of Fine ArtsThe largest art museum in the Philippines, housed in the Old Legislative Buildin7 minutes walk4.6
Manila Ocean ParkA large aquarium on the edge of Manila Bay behind Rizal Park, opened in 2008. It10 minutes walk4.1
San Agustin ChurchThe oldest stone church in the Philippines, completed in 1607 within the walls o10 minutes walk4.5After José Rizal, national hero of the Philippines, who was executed on this site in 1896; the monument at its centre holds his remains.