Baluarte de San Diego: Step Into History in the Heart of Manila
You know how sometimes, you stumble upon a place that feels like stepping straight into a history book—except the pages come alive? That’s exactly the feeling you get when you visit Baluarte de San Diego inside Intramuros, Manila.
This isn’t just another old stone structure. Baluarte de San Diego is one of the oldest fortifications in the Philippines, dating all the way back to the late 1500s. It was originally designed by Jesuit priest and military engineer Antonio Sedeño as a round stone tower called Nuestra Señora de Guia. Pretty amazing, right? Over the centuries, it evolved—battered by wars, earthquakes, and time itself—until what we see today: a dramatic, ace-of-spades-shaped bastion that’s been lovingly restored to tell its story.