Santa Cruz, Manila

Santa Cruz

237px Carriedo Fountain at Plaza Sta. Cruz
Location of Santa Cruz in Manila
City	Manila
Population (2007)	118,779
– Density	per km²
Area	km²
– Barangays	82
– Cong. Districts	3rd District

Santa Cruz is a district in the northern part of the City of Manila, Philippines, located on the right bank of the Pasig River near the mouth of the river, in between the districts of Tondo, Quiapo, and Sampaloc, and Caloocan City and Quezon City. The district belongs to the 3rd congressional district of Manila in the Philippines.

History

Spanish colonial era

Prior to the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors to the Philippine Islands, the district of Santa Cruz was partly a marshland, patches of greeneries, orchards and partly rice fields. A Spanish expedition in 1581 claimed the territory and awarded to the Society of Jesus whose members are known as 'Jesuits'.

The Jesuits built the first Roman Catholic church in the area where the present Santa Cruz Parish stands on June 20, 1619. The Jesuits enshrined the image of the Our Lady of The Pillar in 1643 to serve the pre-dominantly Chinese residents in the area. The image drew a lot of devotees and a popular cult grew around it.

On June 24, 1784, King Carlos III of Spain gave the deeds to about 2 km² of land that was part of the Hacienda de Mayhaligue to the San Lazaro Hospital which served as a caring home for lepers in Manila at that time.

At the Santa Cruz Parish, a small park was built that linked the area into the headquarters of the Spanish cavalry, the building that once was the Colegio de San Ildefonso, operated by the Jesuits. The district in the Spanish times also had a slaughter house and a meat market and up north was the Chinese cemetery.

The Franciscan fathers were given the responsibility to care for the lepers of the city and specifically the San Lazaro Hospital. Father Felix Huerta developed San Lazaro into a refuge for the afflicted and it became a famous home for those afflicted in the north side of the Pasig River.

World War II

During World War II, the Japanese occupational forces caught unaware of the fast approaching the liberation by the combined American & Filipino soldiers in 1945 from the north, abandoned the northern banks of the Pasig River including Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz and much of the northern portions of Manila were spared from the artillery bombardment and to date, a number of pre-World War II buildings and houses still stand in Santa Cruz.

When the Philippine republic was finally established in July 1946, the San Lazaro Hospital complex became the head office of the country’s Department of Health.

List of Cultural Properties of Santa Cruz

Cultural Property wmph identifier	Site name	Description	Province	City/Municipality	Address/Location	Coordinates	Image
	Santa Cruz Church (Our Lady of the Pillar Parish Church)	Santa Cruz Church (Our Lady of the Pillar Parish Church)	Metro Manila	Santa Cruz, Manila	Plaza Santa Cruz
	Don Roman R. Santos Building	Don Roman R. Santos Building	Metro Manila	Santa Cruz, Manila	Ronquillo cor. Escolta Streets
	Carriedo Fountain	Carriedo Fountain	Metro Manila	Santa Cruz, Manila	Plaza Santa Cruz		File:FvfSantaCruzManila322.JPG
	Nagkakaisang Metodistang Simbahan Knox	Nagkakaisang Metodistang Simbahan Knox	Metro Manila	Santa Cruz, Manila	Rizal Avenue cor. Lope de Vega Street
	San Lazaro Hospital	San Lazaro Hospital	Metro Manila	Santa Cruz, Manila	Quiricada Street
	Scala Theater	Scala Theater	Metro Manila	Santa Cruz, Manila	Rizal Avenue
	Manila North Cemetery	Manila North Cemetery	Metro Manila	Santa Cruz, Manila	Andres Bonifacio Avenue
	Capitan Luis Gonzaga Building	Capitan Luis Gonzaga Building	Metro Manila	Santa Cruz, Manila	Rizal Avenue cor. Carriedo Street		File:Capital Luis Gonzaga Building Name Signage.jpg
	Lords and Jennet Theaters	Lords and Jennet Theaters	Metro Manila	Santa Cruz, Manila	Rizal Avenue
	Forum Theater	Forum Theater	Metro Manila	Santa Cruz, Manila	Lope de Vega Street cor. Rizal Avenue
	Roben Theater	Roben Theater	Metro Manila	Santa Cruz, Manila	Recto Avenue
	Manuel F. Tiaoqui Building	Manuel F. Tiaoqui Building	Metro Manila	Santa Cruz, Manila	Santa Cruz Plaza
	Capitan Pepe Building	Capitan Pepe Building	Metro Manila	Santa Cruz, Manila	Rizal cor. Recto Avenues
	Dr. Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital	Dr. Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital	Metro Manila	Santa Cruz, Manila	Lope de Vega Street		File:WTMP Flashbang B15-b.JPG
	Old Bilibid Prison	Old Bilibid Prison	Metro Manila	Santa Cruz, Manila	Claro M. Recto Avenue
	Arguelles Building	Arguelles Building	Metro Manila	Santa Cruz, Manila	Rizal Avenue

Notable buildings

Santa Cruz Parish Church

File:Pic geo photos - ph=mm=manila=santa cruz=plaza lacson-avenida area - aerial shot from riverview mansion -philippines--2015-0624--ls-.JPG

Santa Cruz district from the air

The first Santa Cruz Church was built when the Arrabal (Suburb) of Santa Cruz was established by the Jesuits in the early 1600s. The church had undergone many repairs and reconstruction, with the last reconstruction done in the 1950s. Today, the church architecture employs a California Spanish Mission style facade silhouette with the usual Filipino (Asian-Hispanic mix) Baroque ornamentation. The church facade is topped with an effigy statue of Our Lady of the Pillar, the patroness of the church whose feast happens every third Sunday of October and on the 12th day of October.

Cemeteries

Santa Cruz is home to Manila's oldest cemeteries located in the district's northern section namely, La Loma Cemetery, the Manila Chinese Cemetery, and the city's biggest, the Manila North Cemetery.

Main thoroughfares

Rizal Avenue is the main thoroughfare in the district. It is also accessible via the following roads:

• Recto Avenue
• Tayuman Street
• Blumentritt Road

Stations of the Manila LRT Line 1, commencing from Baclaran and Monumento stations, are in Carriedo, Doroteo Jose, Bambang, Tayuman and Blumentritt. The Philippine National Railways has a station in Blumentritt. Jeepneys coming from Baclaran and Caloocan pass through Rizal Avenue.

Gallery

Religious Buildings

• Sta. Cruz Church, Manila.JPG

  Santa Cruz Church in 2012

• MetroManila,Manilajf9999 22.JPG

  Santa Cruz Church

• Manilajf0029 04.JPG

  Façade of Santa Cruz Church in 2013

Civic Institutions

• 

  Manila North Cemetery

• Chinese General Hospital 1.JPG

  Chinese General Hospital

• Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center.JPG

  Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center

Commercial Establishments

• Arch of Goodwill at Plaza Santa Cruz, Chinatown, Manila, Philippines - 20120111.jpg

  Chinatown (Plaza Santa Cruz), Third Welcome Gate (Arch of Goodwill) to Ongpin Street towards Binondo

• Ongpinjf.JPG

  Ongpin Commercial Center

• Bpistacruzjf.JPG

  Bank of the Philippine Islands at Don Román Santos Building, a neo-classical, Graeco-Roman structure at Plaza Goiti (now Plaza Lacson)

• MetroManila,Manilajf9999 09.JPG

  Carriedo Street with Plaza Lacson in the background

• Avenida-D.JPG

  Commercial Buildings in Rizal Avenue

• 

  San Lazaro Tourism and Business Park (formerly the San Lázaro Racetrack)

• Capitan Pepe Building.JPG

  Capitan Pepe Building

Residences

• Bahay na bato house in Santa Cruz, Manila.JPG

  Bahay na bato house in Santa Cruz, Manila

• Bahay na bato apartments in Santa Cruz, Manila.JPG

  Bahay na bato apartments in Santa Cruz, Manila

• Period architecture in Santa Cruz, Manila.JPG

  Period architecture in Santa Cruz, Manila

• Avenida-C.JPG

  Bahay na Bato House in Bambang Rizal Avenue

External links

• Media related to at Wikimedia Commons