This is my entry to @juliank's #landscapephotography. Camera used is Camera EOS 350D.

!steemitworldmap 14.594265 lat 120.974426 long Intramuros Manila d3scr

The walled city

The year was 1571. Or probably earlier.

A Spanish man named Miguel Lopez de Legazpi landed in the then beautiful and clean what is now Manila. He liked what he saw and decided to take it. Just like that. Owned it like no one already owns the land. Never mind the people who lived there all their lives. Let's take them as slaves instead, he decided and the next one before him and the next. For 400 years.

The Spanish conquerors took it into themselves to protect the land they grabbed and fortified it. There are evidences of parts of machineries and cannons that were once used to protect the city. Even the guards were dressed as how the Spanish guards were dressed back in 1500s.

Intramuros, meaning within the walls, has churches, schools and other necessary establishments and offices necessary to run a city making it the main point for education, religion and business. It is the capital of the country for hundreds of years. This is the seat of the government. It was built where trade and commerce was the center even before the Spanish came to claim what is not theirs. The walls were started in 1590 and finished construction in 1872 totally enclosing the city.

There were different churches built within the city earning the name of City of Churches.

It was during the war of 1945, that the city incurred irreparable damages such that buildings and structures were destroyed due to bombings.

Plaza de Mexico or just plainly Plaza Mexico is a small square located at the riverside of the city. They built this square to pay tribute to the expedition of Miguel Lopez de Legazpi and the trade between Mexico and Manila.

The sculptor Luis Sanguino made a statue of the president of Mexico (1953-1964), Adolfo Lopez Mateos.

Narra trees are abound in the city. They also cover Plaza Mexico. The narra flowers turn the streets into gold. When I stepped into the square, it reminded me of @watersnake101's post about Summer Snow. It wowed me how majestic they can be.

Across Plaza Mexico is the ruins of Aduana or Custom House.

Another small triangular square dedicated to King Phillip II was built near Aduana. This is called Plaza de Espana.

What is distinct about this plaza is the smell of urine. I think many have made their mark in this marker. I have to held my breath when taking a photo. If you are ever to visit Intramuros, please stay away from this marker. If you want to take a photo of it yourself, bring a telephoto lens and picture it from afar.

We traveled from #Baguio-City to NAIA to surprise my aunt and her family who migrated to Canada. They did not know that we were coming. From Baguio to Manila, it took us four-and-a-half hours. We have had little to no sleep. We arrived at the airport around 2:30 a.m. and waited for the flight of our aunt and family which is 7:00 a.m. After spending the little window of time we have left, we said our goodbyes. We then left the airport before 7:00 a.m.

(Read HERE and HERE for related topics)

I had plans before leaving Baguio that we will visit Intramuros since after the airport we have no place else to go and I do not want to waste the time while we were there. We then headed to Intramuros from the airport and decided to eat breakfast there. However, one of the fast foods there is not open until 7:00 a.m. With a few minutes to spare, we took the chance of taking pictures first.

Upon the fastfood's opening, we took our order and eat. We decided to tour the place after eating. There were calesa or horse-drawn carriages that were in the parking lot. However, we did not see any horses.

It must have been the oppressive heat even early in the morning, the lack of sleep, the fatigue that made us gave up the tour. Maybe it was the food that made us full which added to the weight that we wanted to go home instead. Leaving the airport, I was already feeling fatigued.

The excitement and eagerness I feel upon entering the premises of Intramuros suddenly left me. Adding to the excuses is the fact that my camera is not cooperating. I have to work with what I have though and do the best I can with it.

It is with a heavy heart but at the same time relief of going home that we gave up and left.

We just toured the tip of the iceberg. Hoping there will be next time.