If you are staying in Manila, this is definitely worth a visit.

The fort consists of old Spanish architecture and walls. As you enter the ticket office, there is a large park with old buildings on the left and right. Most of the buildings were destroyed at the end of World War II, and some are barely standing. As you enter the ticket office, you can reach a passage near the walls through the forest path on the left. There are no signs everywhere, but there are small paths here and there, making it a good place to take a quiet walk. There is a moat between the walls and the park, and there is water.

When you cross the moat and enter the gate of the wall, the old-fashioned scenery is very beautiful. It is definitely a good place to take pictures.

When you enter the gate, there is a commemorative statue of Jose Rizal, a symbol of the independence movement, on the right, and a museum on the left. The museum displays Jose Rizal's belongings and his life story. The Philippines was a Spanish colony for more than 375 years, from 1571 to 1946. A statue of Jose Rizal, a symbol of the independence movement and a national hero, is erected with the title, “Last Walk to Martyrdom.”

In addition, in the center of the north, there is an underground prison built during the Japanese colonial period, and you can experience it by recreating the time.

The Philippines began its colonial rule under Spain in 1571. It was previously a tribal state. It was ruled by Spain for 327 years until it declared independence on June 12, 1898. After that, it was under American colonial rule from 1898 to 1946, and declared independence from the United States on July 4, 1946. However, it was occupied again by Japan during the American rule from 1942 to 1945. It became the current Republic of the Philippines after 1946. The existence of the Philippines, which had been a quiet island nation, became known to the outside world after the appearance of Ferdinand Magellan in the 16th century. In 1521, Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese navigator, landed in the Philippines while traveling around the world with the support of the Spanish royal family, and this event made the Philippines known to the international community. This was the opportunity to largely divide the history of the Philippines into the pre-Spanish tribal state era and the post-Spanish conquest era. It is said that before Magellan appeared, Malay-speaking indigenous people settled in various parts of the island, and that they did not form a unified nation, but lived in the form of a tribal state ruled by a chieftain. Since the Philippines is made up of mountains and islands, it is said that they lived under a chieftain system called barangay that arose spontaneously during the settlement process, and the population at that time is estimated to be about 500,000, less than 0.5% of the current population. A barangay is usually composed of 30 to 100 households centered around a ruler called a datu, but in areas such as Manila and Cebu, there were also large-scale barangays with hundreds of households. By the way, due to the influence of this time, even today, the smallest administrative unit in the Philippines is called a barangay. At that time, Spain set out to travel around the world for the 3Gs: the glory of the king (Glory), the gospel of God (Gospel), and economic gain (Gold), and from Spain's perspective, the Philippines was the best place to use as a trading base. After that, Spain sent several expeditions to investigate the Philippine Islands, and gradually began to rule the Philippines. Spain ruled the Philippines indirectly through the Mexican governor until 1821, but then began to rule directly. Spain was inaugurating the Golden Age of Spain, known as the "empire on which the sun never sets," and when a Spanish expedition arrived in the Philippines in 1543, they named the islands of Samar and Leyte Las Islas Filipinas after King Philip II of Spain, and after that, during the Spanish occupation, the entire islands were called the Philippines. It was also during this period that