Paco Park was a place I often heard about growing up in Manila.  I often saw it on TV as the venue for concerts especially on Sunday afternoons.  I am glad the government of Manila has preserved and maintained the place.  I never realized it used to be a cemetery.  From what I heard, this was where Jose Rizal, the Philippine national hero, was buried in a nameless grave right after he was executed in Rizal Park over a hundred years ago.  It certainly was a sight and being a fan of anything related to the Spanish Colonial times, I was happy to be there.

The niches or crypts inside Paco Park.  These niches have long been emptied.  It is a miracle this park which used to be a cemetery back in the 1800s still stands given that the entire city of Manila was completely flattened and destroyed during the Second World War ending Manila's reign as the Pearl of the Orient.  How I wish many of the historic monuments built in Manila during the Spanish Colonial times still stood and existed in Manila.

A close view of the stairs leading up to the walkway above the niches and crypts.  Paco Park though small reminded me of the walled city of Avila and Toledo in Spain.  This was definitely a piece of Spain in Manila.

This church is a must see in Manila.  It is a miracle it still stands despite its age.  I thought it too suffered from the bombing of Manila during the Second World War.