Fort Santiago, Intramuros among Asia's most endangered historic sites

MANILA, Philippines - Fort Santiago and Intramuros in the Philippines have been listed among the top 10 most endangered historic sites in Asia by The Global Heritage Fund.

The Fund, which promotes the preservation of historic architectural sites around the world, issued a final list on the endangered sites last Friday.

Other endangered sites on the list are Ayutthaya in Thailand, a former Siamese capital known as the “Venice of the East;” Kashgar, one of the last preserved Silk Road cities in China; Mahasthangarh, one of South Asia’s earliest archeological sites in Bangladesh; Mes Aynak, an Afghan Buddhist monastery complex on the Silk Road; Myauk-U, capital of the first Arakenese kingdom in Myanmar; Plain of Jars, a mysterious megalithic site in Laos; Preah Vihear, a Khmer architectural masterpiece in Cambodia; Rakhigari, one of the biggest, ancient Indus sites in India; and Taxila, an ancient economic crossroads in Pakistan.

Built by Spanish conquerors

Fort Santiago, Fuerza de Santiago in Spanish and Moog ng Santiago in Tagalog, is a citadel first built by Spanish conquistador Miguel Lopez de Legazpi for the new established city of Manila between 1574 and 1579.

The defense fortress is part of the structures of the walled city of Manila referred to as Intramuros (“within the walls”).

The fort is one of the most important historical sites in Manila. Several lives were lost in its prisons during the Spanish colonial period and World War II.

The country’s national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, was imprisoned at Fort Santiago before his execution in 1896.

The Rizal Shrine museum displays memorabilia of the hero in their collection and the fort features his footsteps embedded onto the ground in bronze, representing his final walk from his cell to the location of the actual execution in the former Bagumbayan, now Luneta park.