Manila Cathedral or the Manila Metropolitan Cathedral-Basilica is situated in the district of Intramuros in Manila. Originally, this church was the "Church of Manila" which was established and under the management of the Diocese of Mexico in 1571, but later in 1579 it became a separate diocese.
This church also faced different obstacles; the first structure was made of nipa, wood and bamboo and was damaged and destroyed several times because of fire. Later in 1592, it was reconstructed using stone. On the same location, in 1614, a third structure was built but was again destroyed by earthquake. With the help of the Archbishop and pilgrims, a fourth structure was built. As the time goes by, replacement structures were also damaged several times. The structure that we are seeing today is the seventh structure, with Romanesque-Byzantine influences, constructed from 1870 to 1879. Although, there were a lot of restorations made.
The structure underwent to several reconstructions and retrofitting. Just recently in 2014, it was reopened after the retrofitting process; this is to make sure that the structure will withstand for any natural disasters like earthquakes, after what happened to some of the century-old churches in Visayas. The recent interior looks great and has a modern touch.
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