Quiapo, Manila

Quiapo's name is derived from the abundance of water cabbage (Pistia stratiotes), called kiyapo in Tagalog (spelled quiapo in Philippine Spanish) in the nearby Pasig River.[2] The town of Cuyapo in Nueva Ecija is also named after the same plant.[3]

Pre-1800 maps of Manila show that Quiapo, historically a poor fishing village, was originally a cluster of islands with marshlands and shallow waters. In 1578, Franciscans arrived and established their main missionary headquarters in nearby Santa Ana de Sapa, taking Quiapo as part of its visita (chapel-of-ease). They founded Quiapo Church and dedicated it to St. John the Baptist. The Jesuits later arrived in 1581.[4]

Franciscan prelate Pedro Bautista petitioned to make Quiapo a separate town. The petition was finally granted by Governor-General Santiago de Vera on August 29, 1586.[5] In 1622, Augustinians arrived and founded a chapel in honor of St. Sebastian at the present-day site of the San Sebastian Basilica. By 1850, then a small agricultural village, population of Quiapo grew as a result of a developing economy in the wake of the Manila galleon trade's termination and the subsequent opening of the country to world trade in 1830. Newly rich mestizos started settling in Quiapo, as well as many rich Europeans, including Spanish army officers.[4]

Quiapo had become a wealthy suburb. Since the American insular government and commonwealth periods through to the late 1970s, it shared its status as the center of the activities of Manila's social elites as well as trade, fashion, art and higher learning with its surrounding vicinity (Avenida Rizal, Santa Cruz, Escolta and the University Belt). However, with the construction of the Manila Light Rail Transit System's LRT-1 spanning over Rizal Avenue, the occlusion of light, the trapping of smog and vehicle emissions left the streets beneath dark, gloomy and with an increase in crime and transients. Consequently, many long-time establishments vacated the area. Following the People Power Revolution in 1986, the vibrancy of Quiapo further diminished, with the void filled by makeshift markets to accommodate visitors to the Quiapo Church.

The Quiapo was plot setting for the episode 'Paa' of the 2010 horror film Cinco.

Carriedo Street

Plaza Miranda, in the heart of the Quiapo district, is a town square named after Jose Sandino y Miranda, who served as secretary of the treasury of the Philippines from 1853 to 1863.[6] It is located in front of the Quiapo Church, and has become a popular site for political rallies. On August 21, 1971, while the Liberal Party held its miting de avance in the plaza, a bomb exploded, killing nine and injuring almost 100 civilians.

The Quiapo district is also home to a sizable Muslim population. The Golden Mosque and Green Mosque are located here.

Stores offering herbal products, and a large population of self-described fortune tellers, surround the Quiapo church. Thievery and sales of illegally copied media[7][8] are prevalent in the district.

In recent years, the local government of Manila, spearheaded by then-Mayor Lito Atienza, launched the Buhayin ang Maynila ("Revitalize Manila") project which greatly rehabilitated Quiapo and its vicinities, most especially Plaza Miranda, Quinta Market, the Arsenio Lacson Underpass and the University Belt. Parts of Rizal Avenue, starting from Carriedo Street to Recto Avenue, were converted into pedestrian shopping arcades.

Quiapo contains 16 barangays: Barangays 306, 307, 308, and 309 are part of Zone 30; Barangays 383, 384, 385, 386, 387, and 388 are part of Zone 39; and Barangays 389, 390, 391, 392, 393, and 394 are part of Zone 40 of the City of Manila.

• 
  Quiapo Church
• 
  Plaza Miranda
• 
  Minor Basilica of San Sebastian
• 
  Quinta Market & Fish Port
• 
  Welcome Arch of Quiapo Muslim Town
• 
  The Golden Mosque during Eid'l Fitr in 2019

• Julio Nakpil
• Rosemarie Gil

• Hidalgo Street

• Media related to Quiapo, Manila at Wikimedia Commons

14.600°N 120.983°E / 14.600; 120.983