Casa Manila Museum, Intramuros

From the Intramuros Admin Site:

Casa Manila, a "colonial lifestyle" museum, is only a section of Plaza San Luis Complex, a commercial-cultural complex. As with all new structures built within the walls of Intramuros, facades here are based on colonial period designs.

The facade of Casa Manila was copied from a house (c.1850) at Calle Jaboneros in San Nicolas, a district across the Pasig River. In that area, the first floor of houses were rented out to shopkeepers. In Casa Manila, you will find shops in the ground floor where you may buy antiques, art objects and souvenir items.

The walls of the ground floor are made of adobe stones. In the Spanish colonial period (late 16th century to late 19th century), "adobe" or volcanic tuff was quarried from Makati and Meycuayan, Bulacan for building material. The stones in Casa Manila were quarried from Bulacan. The uppermost floor, the living quarters, was made of wood. Since wood was lighter than stone, it was less hazardous during earthquakes. Notice that the uppermost floor extends outwards, helping to shade pedestrians during the day. Its real use though was for the stability of the living quarters during earthquakes. One will find the structure adjoining Casa Manila is stone on both floors. When the Spaniards first arrived, they built in this manner. This had to be revised though because it could not withstand earthquakes. Neither could inhabitants of such structures.

Open Daily except Mondays from 9:00am to 6:00pm

ENTRANCE FEES:
Adults Php 75.00
Children / Students / Teachers / Php 50.00
Senior Citizens / Disabled

(Students and teachers subject to presentation of school i.d. )
(Senior citizens subject to the presentation of senior citizen i.d.)