Built in 1920 in the Renaissance style, Kalayaan Hall is the oldest part of the Malacanang Government Palace located in Manila. In this Spanish pavilion, the histories of the American period of control of the Philippines, the Commonwealth period, and the Second and Third Republics. Romblon marble once shone on its concrete façade, but in the 1960s it was obscured by repeated coatings of lime. Today, Kalayaan Hall is one of the best-preserved pre-war buildings in the Philippines, which has stood the test of time and serves as a link between the past and the present.
Molded decorations, awnings over the entrance and balconies made of wrought iron, covered verandas and high ceilings providing ideal air circulation in a tropical climate are the characteristic features of this representative building. For several decades, Philippine history was made here.
The main hall on the first floor of Kalayaan Hall once served as a guest bedroom, then the President's Office. In 1968, it was converted into a a huge room called Maharlika Hall, which, during the during the reign of Ferdinand Marcos, where government dinners were held. From the balcony from the balcony of this very room, President Marcos gave his last oath of office and his and farewell speech in February 1986.
Until 2002, Calayan Hall served as the Office of the Presidential Spokesman. Philippines and was then converted into the main gallery of the Presidential Museum and Library. It preserves an antique table where the powerful used to gather, as well as the Presidential Gallery, a collection of various items including clothes, gifts, documents, etc. that belonged to the country's 15 presidents.
Today, Calayan Hall houses the Malacanang Museum, the official repository of the of memorabilia of the presidents of the Philippines. Here you can see items that once belonging to the country's heads of state, ranging from Emilio Acquinaldo to current President Benigno Acuino the Third, as well as artworks and furniture from the of the palace collection.
