The Agrifina Circle, officially the Teodoro F. Valencia Circle, is a
traffic circle
A roundabout is a type of circular intersection (road), intersection or junction in which road traffic is permitted to flow in one direction around a central island, and priority is typically given to traffic already in the junction.''The N ...
within the eastern portion of
Rizal Park
Rizal Park ( fil, Liwasang Rizal, es, link=no, Parque Rizal), also known as Luneta Park or simply Luneta, is a historic urban park located in Ermita, Manila. It is considered one of the largest urban parks in the Philippines, covering an are ...
in
Manila
Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populated ...
, the
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
.
Etymology
The name "Agrifina" is a
portmanteau
A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsneoclassical buildings located on opposite ends of the circle formerly housed the Departments of Agriculture and
Finance
Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of f ...
. The former building of the Department of Finance formerly housed the Department of Tourism until 2015, when the building was vacated to make way for the new
National Museum of Natural History
The National Museum of Natural History is a natural history museum administered by the Smithsonian Institution, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. It has free admission and is open 364 days a year. In 2021, with 7. ...
.
The circle was officially renamed to Teodoro F. Valencia Circle on January 5, 1990 through Republic Act No. 6836,
after the longtime head of the park who initiated and maintained the park's beautification.
History
The Agrifina Circle was intended to be a grand civic plaza surrounded by the planned Capitol Building and five wedge-shaped buildings which included the Finance and Agriculture Buildings, according to the Burnham Plan of Manila by American architect
Daniel Burnham
Daniel Hudson Burnham (September 4, 1846 – June 1, 1912) was an American architect and urban designer. A proponent of the '' Beaux-Arts'' movement, he may have been, "the most successful power broker the American architectural profession has ...
.
After
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, when it was decided that the capital of the Philippines was to be moved to
Quezon City
Quezon City (, ; fil, Lungsod Quezon ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read in Filipino as Kyusi), is the List of cities in the Philippines, most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a populatio ...
, the then-plaza was converted into a roundabout. Vehicular traffic was allowed in road until the late 1960s when Rizal Park was consolidated and most roads going through the park were pedestrianized. A globe fountain and skating rink was installed at the central island.
There were plans to construct
Luneta Tower
The Centennial Tower, also known as Luneta Tower, was a proposed mixed-use observation tower initially proposed to be located in Rizal Park, Manila, Philippines. It was later proposed to be built in Pasig amidst backlash over the original planne ...
, a observation tower, at the Agrifina Circle for the Centennial celebration of Philippine Independence in 1998. The decision to build the tower at the site, however, was controversial and the plan was eventually shelved.
In 1998, the Binhi ng Kalayaan Monument replaced the fountain but the skating rink remained. The monument was later moved to a barren area of Rizal Park in 2004 and was replaced by
Sentinel of Freedom
The Statue of the Sentinel of Freedom or the Lapu Lapu Monument is a monument to Lapulapu located at Rizal Park specifically at the center of the Agrifina Circle.
History
In 2004, House of Representatives members Raul del Mar and Nerissa Coraz ...