The "Castle" of Manila: Revisiting the Ocampo Pagoda Mansion

- Sept. 6, 2017, Wednesday.

- Manila is a chaotic city, but it's my kind of chaos. It's not the perfect city, and God knows what's happening - not only in Manila - but the whole country these days, but Manila's "charm" is its treasures that stand right in front of you but are easily ignored due to people being preoccupied with the city's chaos. One such treasure in plain sight is the Ocampo Pagoda Mansion in Quiapo, Manila.

Look at this orientalist beauty.

- I have visited this Manilan quirk quite a few times, with my last visit being in 2012. I decided to visit it again because I just wanted to see how it was doing and if I'd be lucky enough to see more treasures related to this pagoda/mansion. This mansion, by the way, is my favorite architectural wonder in Manila, despite how it looks like today. It is located along Bilibid Viejo Street just outside San Sebastian Church. I walked there from Hidalgo street since I passed by Muslim Town.

The remnants of the pagoda. Decided to wear something Chinese instead of Japanese since wearing something Japanese catches more attention than my Chinese polo. At least, somehow, it fits the theme?

- The Ocampo Pagoda was the house of Don Jose Mariano Ocampo, a lawyer and realtor who lived in the early 1900s. After being a Spanish cemetery, Don Jose built his one-hectare mansion from 1936 to 1941, and was built to resemble both eastern and western castles. The dominant influence, however, is Japanese architecture. Sources say that this was done as an admiration for Japan as one of the earliest Asian countries to be able to catch up with western trends; Japan began learning much from Europe and being open to numerous European influences since the Meiji Era of the mid-1800s. During the Second World War, it served as a bomb shelter of the people of that area because of the study materials used to build the mansion. However, the top part of the tower and other parts of the mansion were destroyed not from the war, but from a great earthquake in 1962.

I got this photo from Google. This is a colorized photo of the mansion taken by James Kirkpatrick in 1945. This photo is currently under the car of the National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C..

- Today, the land of the mansion was passed on the Don Jose's descendants. Some of these areas are the alleys and streets surrounding the actual pagoda; stores and dormitories , or people's houses are built along these streets and alleys. The pagoda itself has been used for quite some time as a dormitory for seamen, and so no one is allowed to enter the pagoda. Outside the pagoda is a basketball court for the people that live near/around the pagoda.

- The pagoda and the symbolisms found in the actual mansion aren't the only things that catch the attention of those who have heard and want to visit this pagoda. Going around the pagoda (from Bilibid Viejo Street, just keep walking and after crossing the bridge, turn left at Gonzalo Puyat Street,) one can find some slightly-sketchy-but-totally-safe (I promise) house-lined alleys. The walls of some of these alleys have life-sized religious statues welcoming curious eyes; these statues from the pagoda were commissioned by Don Jose since he was religious. I also saw the frequently-photographed shachihoko or shachi, which might imply that that area used to be an entrance or a gate to one of the areas of the mansion. The shachihoko or shachi, by the way, is a Japanese mythological creature that has the head of a tiger and the body of a fish. These were usually placed on roofs to protect the structure, but once in a while these can be seen on gates or as stand-alone statues.

Religious statues. These were around 4-5 feet tall.

I supposed these are the Ten Commandments?

Shachihoko "caught" in a plastic rope.

Not sure who/what this is.

- Numerous blogs, photos, and even feature articles will show other statues that scatter the area. The statues that I photographed are the same ones I saw before, but I wish to find more statues like the ones I saw in the other blogs and articles. The most important statue however, the 30-foot statue of the Lady of Mt. Carmel, which used to be seen between a 2-foot wide alley (hence the nickname, "Babae sa Eskinita" or "Lady of the Alley,") also known as "Mundo" (as she stands on a giant globe,") has been transferred to New Manila in Quezon City in 2016, behind the Mt. Carmel Shrine along Broadway Avenue (now known as Dona Juana Rodriguez Avenue.) Too bad I did not know this sooner, since I visited the Mt. Carmel Shrine just a few weeks ago. The statue of the Lady of Mount Carmel is said to be miraculous and grants people's wishes.

- With a mild sunburn and a sweat-lined face I battled the crowd of Quiapo on the way home. I never liked the feeling of being sweaty and dirty after a whole afternoon of being out, but it's always worth it when visiting Quiapo. Quiapo is a like a giant antique store - it looks scary and sketchy, but you're always bound to find something that will fancy you. And to the Ocampo Pagoda, I'll see you again and I'll find more time to explore your treasures that you have scattered around the alleys and streets around you. Until today, I am still hoping that they turned you into a museum of some sort, or at the very least, restored/preserved you better.