Santa Cruz, Manila


Santa Cruz is a district in the northern part of the City of Manila, Philippines, located on the right bank of the Pasig River near its mouth. It is bordered by the districts of Tondo, Binondo, Quiapo, and Sampaloc, as well as the areas of Grace Park and Barrio San José in Caloocan, and the district of La Loma in Quezon City. The district belongs to the 3rd congressional district of Manila.

History

Spanish colonial era

Prior to the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors to the Philippine archipelago in 1521, the district of Santa Cruz was partly marshland, patches of greenery, orchards, and ricefields. A Spanish expedition in 1581 claimed the territory and awarded it to the Society of Jesus. Back then it was called the island of Mayhaligue.
The Jesuits then built the first Catholic church in the area, where the present Santa Cruz Church stands on June 20, 1619. The Jesuits enshrined the image of the Our Lady of The Pillar in 1643, and they served the area’s pre-dominantly Chinese residents. The image attracted devotees and a popular cultus grew around it
At Santa Cruz Church, a small park was built that connected the area to the headquarters of the Spanish cavalry, which once was the Jesuit-run Colegio de San Ildefonso. The district in Spanish times also had a slaughterhouse and meat market, and further north was the Chinese Cemetery.
On June 24, 1784, King Carlos III of Spain gave the deeds to about of land that was part of the Hacienda de Mayhaligue to San Lázaro Hospital, which served as the regional leprosarium. Franciscans were charged with caring for the lepers of the city, and Father Félix Huerta developed San Lázaro into a refuge for the afflicted on the north side of the Pasig River.

World War II

During World War II, the Japanese occupying forces, caught unaware of the fast-approaching joint American and Filipino soldiers from the north, abandoned the northern banks of the Pasig including the Santa Cruz area. The district and northern portions of Manila were spared from the heavy shelling which flattened the city, and to date, a number of pre-World War II buildings still stand in Santa Cruz.
When the Third Philippine Republic was proclaimed on July 4, 1946, the San Lázaro Hospital complex became the headquarters of the Department of Health.

Notable buildings

Santa Cruz Church

The first Santa Cruz Church was built when the Arrabal of Santa Cruz was established by the Jesuits in the early 1600s. The church had undergone many repairs and reconstruction, with the last reconstruction done in the 1950s. Today, the church architecture employs a California Spanish Mission style facade silhouette with the usual Filipino Baroque ornamentation. The church facade is topped with an effigy statue of Our Lady of the Pillar, the patroness of the church whose feast happens every third Sunday of October and on the 12th day of October.

Cemeteries

Santa Cruz is home to Manila's oldest cemeteries located in the district's northern section namely, La Loma Cemetery, the Manila Chinese Cemetery, and the city's biggest, the Manila North Cemetery.

Main thoroughfares

Rizal Avenue is the main thoroughfare in the district. The district is also accessible via the following roads:
Stations of the LRT Line 1 located in Santa Cruz are Carriedo, Doroteo Jose, Bambang, Tayuman and Blumentritt. The Philippine National Railways has a station in Blumentritt. Jeepneys coming from Baclaran, Pasay, Valenzuela, Novaliches and Caloocan pass through Rizal Avenue.

Education

As of February 2024, the Manila Department of Education lists three senior high schools in Santa Cruz, namely Cayetano Arellano, Manuel L. Quezon and Doña Teodora Alonzo.

Barangays

Santa Cruz has 82 barangays, group in nine Zones of the City of Manila.

Sub-districts

Barangays
ZoneBarangays
Zone 29Barangays 297, 298, 299, 300, 301, 302, 303, 304, and 305
Zone 31Barangays 310, 311, 312, 313, and 314
Zone 32Barangays 315, 316, 317, 318, 319, 320, 321, 322, 323, 324, and 325
Zone 33Barangays 326, 327, 328, 329, 330, 331, 332, 334, and 335
Zone 34Barangays 336, 337, 338, 339, 340, 341, 342, and 343
Zone 35Barangays 344, 345, 346, 347, 348 349, 350, 351, and 352
Zone 36Barangays 353, 354, 355, 356, 357, 358, 359, 360, 361, and 362
Zone 37Barangays 363, 364, 365, 366, 367, 368, 369, 370, 371, and 372
Zone 38Barangays 373, 374, 375, 376, 377, 378, 379, 380, 381, and 382

Santa Cruz has two postal codes corresponding to its two sub-districts: 1014 for Santa Cruz North and 1003 for Santa Cruz South.
STREETS
ALMEDA
ANACLETO
ANDRADE
ARAGON
AURORA BLVD.
BALAGUER
BALANGA
BALDWIN
BATANGAS
BECERINA
BLUMENTRITT
BOLINAO
BUGALLON
BULACAN
CAMARINES
CAVITE
CHINESE CEMETERY
CONSUELO
DINALUPIHAN
ELIAS
FELINA
FELIX HUERTAS
FIESTA
GEN. DIOKNO
ILUSTRE
IPIL
JOSE ABAD SANTOS
KALIMBAS
KARAPATAN
KUSANG LOOB
LA LOMA CEMETERY
LICO
LICO EXT.
M. HIZON
M. NATIVIDAD
MAKATA
MOUNT SAMAT
NEW ANTIPOLO
NORTH CEMETERY
OLD ANTIPOLO
ORANI
ORION
OROQUIETA
P.GUEVARRA
PAMPANGA
QUIROGA
RIVERA
RIZAL AVE.
S.REYES
SAGANI
SAMPAGUITA
SAN LAZARO HIPPODROME
SULU
TAMBUNTING
TAYABAS
TECSON
TIAGO
TINDALO
TINDALO EXT.
TOMAS MAPUA
VISION
YAKAL

Barangay Beatles

Barangay Beatles is a nickname for an alley called officially, Kusang Loob, meaning voluntary, located in the district of Santa Cruz, Manila in the Philippines. This alley is unique because it only serves as a passageway for pedestrians and tricycles, with gates installed at each end which are opened strictly during stated hours of the day. The Brgy. Beatles alleyway traverses alongside two adjacent Taoist temples, named Kiu Siao and Liu Siao of the Fil-Sino Taoist Movement, from its gate at Lope de Vega Street on one end, to its second gate at Valeriano Fugoso street on the other end, where the walls are drawn and painted with decorative graffiti of the Beatles by commissioned Barangay staff there.
The Barangay Beatles nomenclature became part of a wider trend among locals in Greater Manila to bring the music of the Beatles to mundane everyday life in the city; and sought to contribute a worthy celebration to the global Beatles fan ecosystem.
Coordinates: '''14°36'28"N 120°58'47"E'''

Notable