When the Spaniards first got here in 1521 they found not a unified nation but a collection of small sultanates and principalities which were unable to provide very effective resistance. The Moslem ruler of Manila, Rajah Suleiman, was soon defeated and the Spaniards built this fortress, Fort Santiago, on the bank of the river Pasig, which at that time was quite an important trade route.

Jumping forward about three centuries this is the room where Jose Rizal, the national hero, spent his last night before his execution, while from this gate some Spaniards escaped during the siege of the fort by the British in 1762, a minor episode in the Anglo-Spanish war at that time.

The most recent occupation was by the Japanese, who filled the dungeons with Filipino prisoners, who perished in hideous circumstances.

And this is where Rizal, the leader of the independence movement against the Spaniards, spent his last weeks as a prisoner.