Seen in photo is the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Intramuros, the seat of the Archdiocese of Manila. The majestic cathedral faces Plaza McKinley, a historic square where the most important political, civic, and religious events took place during the colonial period. The present edifice was built in 1870, under the supervision of architects Luciano Oliver, Vicente Serrano Salaverria, Manuel Ramirez Bazan and Eduardo Lopez Navarro. The cathedral was destroyed during the war in 1945 and was reconstructed after the Liberation. (Source: Churches of Old Manila, Aubrey John O''Reilly, 1940) Upon his arrival from a forty-year mission in Florida and Mexico, the first and newly assigned Archbishop of Manila, Fray Domingo de Salazar, O.P., ordered the construction of a stone church in the southwest portion of the city. It was completed and dedicated to the mystery of the Immaculate Conception on December 21, 1581. The Cathedral was to be destroyed and reconstructed in an almost rapid succession. A fire gutted down the edifice in 1583. Just a few years after it was restored, it was ruined again by an earthquake on December 6, 1614. Once more, a devastating tremor brought down its roof on November 30, 1645. In 1654, Archbishop Miguel Poblete laid the cornerstone of the third Cathedral building which yielded to the great earthquake of June 3, 1863. The reconstruction of the ill-fated edifice only started in 1870 under the supervision of Architects Olives and Navarro. For two days, December 7 and 8, Manila celebrated the completion of the Cathedral in 1879. The returning American bombers destroyed Manila Cathedral in 1945. Reconstruction took place after the liberation.YYY

Cathedral of the Immaculate ConceptionCaption Note)