Manila/Santa Cruz

Santa Cruz is a district in the northern part of the City of Manila on the right bank of the Pasig River near its mouth, bordered by the districts of Tondo, Binondo, Quiapo, and Sampaloc, and Grace Park (Caloocan City) and La Loma (Quezon City).

History
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 in 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.

During World War II, the Japanese occupational forces, caught unaware of the fast approaching liberation in 1945 by the combined American and Filipino soldiers 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 many pre-World War II buildings and houses still stand in Santa Cruz.

Get in
Santa Cruz is connected to LRT lines 1 and 2 and the PNR. Fare:.

Jeepneys ply Rizal ("Abenida"), Recto and Abad Santos avenues, and routes link the district with the rest of the city as well as Pasay, Parañaque, and Caloocan.

Eat

 * SM City San Lazaro - Has a lot restaurants and fast-food chains to choose from. Some include: Yellow Cab Pizza, Sbarro Pizza, Jollibee, McDonald's, KFC, Karate Kid, and Congo Grille.
 * Blumentritt Street Market - Also sells street food. Please choose the food which you think is clean. Unlike other countries in Asia, street food in the Philippines is not closely monitored by any government agency.

Go next

 * Alabang - 40 minutes away from Blumentritt via PNR. Fare costs around.
 * Quezon City - 20 minutes away from Blumentritt via Line 1. Hop down at Roosevelt Station. Fare costs around . 30 minutes away from Blumentritt via jeepney. From Rizal Avenue, take a jeepney bound for "Munoz Frisco" and ask driver to drop you off at Frisco. Fare costs around.
 * Tondo - 10-30 minutes away from Blumentritt. From Rizal Avenue, take a jeepney bound for "Divisoria", hop-off at Tutuban Mall.