If there’s one imposing and most important landmark the district of Santa Ana, Manila is proud of, it would be the Church of the Our Lady of the Abandoned, but more popularly known as Santa Ana Church. Its origins actually date back in 1578, when the Franciscan missionaries established themselves at the old community of Namayan, once part of a kingdom bearing the same name. The Franciscans first built a small church near a brook, which they dedicated to the mother of the Virgin Mary, St. Anne. And old Namayan became Santa Ana de Sapa, the first Franciscan mission built outside Intramuros, AKA Old Manila.
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the heritage of Santa Ana
I mentioned in a previous post about Santa Ana’s hidden treasures, treasures of heritage to be exact. It is fortunate to find out that despite the rapid urbanization going on around the 400-plus year-old city, the old heritage of the city is still alive in this “quieter” part of the city. For someone who appreciates the beauty of cultural heritage, it is a welcome relief to see it somehow alive in the district of Santa Ana. Back during the 19th-early 20th centuries, Santa Ana became known as an enclave of some of Manila’s upper class families. The lush environment and the cool breeze of the Pasig River made living in Santa…
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a little sidetrip to Punta
Located along the northern bank of the Pasig River, just right next door to Mandaluyong, you can not miss finding Punta on the map. Who can miss that piece of land that’s bulging out and surrounded by the rivers of Pasig and San Juan? And if you look at the map below, Punta does have a peninsula-like appearance, which may be why the Spaniards called the place as such, after their native word for point or tip.
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Santa Ana: the community by the river
Located along the southeastern end of the City of Manila is the district known to many as Santa Ana. Or as it proudly states on its welcome marker, “the historic community of Santa Ana.” Santa Ana by itself has a colorful past that has much been overlooked other than its repuation of having a race track which is NOT evenlocated in the area. (and the race track itself today is no longer in operation, but that’s another story)