The Malate district is located in the southern part of Manila. It is bordered to the north Ermita district to the north and Paco district to the west. The name of the neighbourhood is derived from from the Tagalog word "ma-alat," which means "salty". According to legend, the tidal the tidal waters of Manila Bay once flooded the land where the district is today. The salty sea water mixed with fresh water in wells, making drinking water as salty as sea water.
Before the arrival of the Spanish, the area of present-day Malate was home to a small fishing village. In the 16th century, during the Spanish colonial period, the main centre of the area was the Malate Church, around which later developed a cult among pregnant women. It was believed that the patron saint of the church, the Blessed Virgin Mary, was believed to help bring about a happy delivery.
When Americans arrived in the Philippine Islands in the late 19th century, they saw Malate as a future exclusive residential neighbourhood for American families. Emigrants from the U.S., as well as Spanish mestizo families, populated the modern high-rise apartment blocks and spacious bungalows.
After World War II, severe damage caused by retreating Japanese Japanese occupation forces and mortar shelling by the Americans and the Filipinos, nevertheless did not leave the neighbourhood in ruins. The evacuated wealthy families who left their luxurious homes in Malate have returned and are busy to rebuild their private properties. Up until the 1970s, the Malate neighbourhood was exclusively residential.
Today, Malate is roughly divided into two parts: west of Taft Ave. is home to wealthy immigrants, and to the east are middle-class homes. Once a purely residential neighbourhood, in the 1970s the area began to transform into a commercial centre with apartment blocks, and the former apartments slowly became small hotels or guesthouses. In Malate restaurants and cafes sprang up, a result of the "spillover" of business from nearby Ermita. It is in this Manila distict that the Gay Pride parade is held every year, and the distict itself is considered a nightlife centre of non-traditional sexual orientation. However, the west side of Malate remains a quiet, middle-class neighbourhood of student hostels and schools.
It is also home to the offices of the Department of Finance, several major banks and the headquarters of the Philippine Navy. Tourists will be interested in the country's first sports stadium - the Memorial Sports Complex named after. Rizal - and the Manila Zoo and Botanical Garden, located in Malate. At the intersection of Rojas Boulevard and Pedro Gil Street, the Manila Bay promenade begins, where you can find cafes and restaurants. where you can find cafes and restaurants to suit all tastes and tastes. In front of the church Malate Church is the Raja Suleiman Park, the main attraction of which is the "dancing" fountains. A little further away is the Remedios Circus, which opened in 2006.
