Plaza Roma, Intramuros, 1981.

Archives of the Intramuros Administration

The principal public square of Intramuros was known as Plaza Mayor during the Spanish colonial era, then as Plaza McKinley from 1901 to 1960 during the American Occupation in honor of US President William McKinley. The plaza was named Plaza Malaki during the Japanese occupation from 1942 to 1944, when American names were removed in public spaces. Its present name Plaza Roma was given in 1960 in honor of the College of Cardinals in Rome, after the elevation of Archbishop Rufino Santos of Manila as the first Filipino cardinal. At the center of the plaza is the monument of King Charles IV of Spain, erected in 1824 but replaced in 1961 with a monument to the hero-martyrs Gomez, Burgos, and Zamora (GomBurZa). Charles IV’s monument was returned in 1981 as part of the restoration of Intramuros.