The Epic Voyage of Ferdinand Magellan

Travel and Tourism in the Philippines: Historical Highlights

• Antonio Pigafetta was the primary source of all the written voyage of Magellan, and his records proved that the world is not flat and there are no monsters at sea.
• Pigafetta was killed by Lapu-Lapu in Mactan, Cebu, where Miguel Lopez de Legazpi later led an expedition and performed the blood compact ritual with Rajah Sikatuna.
• Salcedo and Goiti helped Legazpi go to Manila, which was already an established city mostly inhabited by Muslims, and they fought against Rajah Matanda, Rajah Sulayman, and Rajah Lakandula.
• The pilgrimage to Antipolo, where Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage is venerated, was a popular tradition that involved various modes of transportation and a swim in Hinulugang Taktak.
• The Kalakalang Galyon was a trade route that connected Spain, Mexico, and Manila, and it promoted migrations from Europe to the Philippines.
• The Our Lady of Guadalupe Minor Seminary in Makati was one of the first accommodations for travelers, and delegates of Spain stayed here before buying the mansion of Don Luis, which became the Malacanang Palace.
• The Hotel de Oriente in Binondo was the first-ever luxury hotel in the Philippines, and Binondo is the oldest Chinatown in the world, while Intramuros was the seat of the Spaniards and Tondo of the Filipinos.
• The House of Apolinario Mabini is located in the PUP Mabini Campus and is a heritage site that showcases the life and works of the Sublime Paralytic.
• Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar is a resort in Bataan that features 63 heritage houses from the Spanish colonial period, including 41 original ones and 22 replicas or archival ones.
• The American colonization era began with the Treaty of Paris in 1898, which ended the Spanish colonization and required the US to pay $20 million to Spain and reform the education system.
• The Thomasites were the first American teachers in the Philippines, and Daniel Burnham was an architect who designed Luneta City, planned Baguio City, and inspired Burnham Park.
• The Manila Hotel, built in 1904 during the presidency of Manuel L. Quezon, hosted Douglas McArthur, the general manager of the Philippine Constabulary, and witnessed the birth of civil aviation in the Philippines, with the first plane being the Pan American Clippers that landed in Manila Bay, followed by the first airfields in Grace Park and Caloocan, and the founding of Philippine Airlines by Andres Soriano, which offered the first flight from Manila to Baguio.