Parián or Pantin, also Parián de Arroceros was an area adjacent to

Intramuros Intramuros (Latin for "inside the walls") is the historic walled area within the city of Manila, the capital of the Philippines. It is administered by the Intramuros Administration with the help of the city government of Manila. Present-day ...

built to house Chinese (

Sangley Sangley (English plural: ''Sangleys''; Spanish plural: ''Sangleyes'') and Mestizo de Sangley (Sangley mestizo, ''mestisong Sangley'', ''chino mestizo'' or Chinese mestizo) are archaic terms used in the Philippines to describe a person of pure o ...

) merchants 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 ...

in the 16th and 17th centuries during the Spanish occupation of 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 ...

. The place gave its name to the

gate A gate or gateway is a point of entry to or from a space enclosed by walls. The word derived from old Norse "gat" meaning road or path; But other terms include ''yett and port''. The concept originally referred to the gap or hole in the wall ...

connecting it to

(where most of the Spanish colonial and administrative government was located), the ''Puerta del Parián''.

History

The Parián rapidly became the commercial centre of

. The community had more than a hundred shops comprising the

Chinese silk China is the world's largest and earliest silk producer. The vast majority of Chinese silk originates from the mulberry silkworms (''Bombyx mori''). During the larval stage of its life-cycle, the insects feed on the leaves of mulberry trees. Non-mu ...

market, small shops of tailors, cobblers, painters, bakers, confectioners, candle makers, silversmiths, apothecaries and other tradesmen. The location of the Parián moved from time to time and persisted until 1790, when it was torn down to make room for new fortifications on the northern side of Intramuros. The first Parián stood at the current site of the

Arroceros Forest Park The Arroceros Forest Park is a riverside urban forest park in Manila, Philippines, located on Antonio Villegas Street (former Calle Arroceros) in the central district of Ermita. Developed in 1993, the park on the south bank of the Pasig Ri ...

along the banks of the

Pasig Pasig, officially the City of Pasig ( fil, Lungsod ng Pasig), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 803,159 people. It is located along the ...

River. The second Parián was built in 1583 after the first Parián burned down. The original location is now called

Liwasang Bonifacio The Liwasang Bonifacio (''Bonifacio Square''), also known by its former name, Plaza Lawton, is a city square and transport hub in front of the Manila Central Post Office in the Ermita district of Manila, Philippines. It lies at the south end of ...

(formerly Plaza Lawton). The Chinese community later moved to other districts of Manila north of the river including

Binondo Binondo () is a district in Manila and is referred to as the city's Chinatown. Its influence extends beyond to the places of Quiapo, Santa Cruz, San Nicolas and Tondo. It is the oldest Chinatown in the world, established in 1594 by the S ...

, Santa Cruz, and Tondo. The second-to-last Parián was octagonal in shape, and also located beside the Pasig River. Finally,

became known as Manila's

Chinatown A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Aust ...

district.

Name

The name ''"Parián"'' or ''"padian"'' was derived from the

Tagalog Tagalog may refer to: Language * Tagalog language, a language spoken in the Philippines ** Old Tagalog, an archaic form of the language ** Batangas Tagalog, a dialect of the language * Tagalog script, the writing system historically used for Taga ...

verb ''"pariyán" /'' ''"padiyán",'' similar to "'' puntahan"'' meaning "to go (to a certain place)", where "'' pa-''" (''adverbial prefix'') + "'' diyán''" ("there" '' ear the listener, but far from the speaker'). Meanwhile, "'' de''" is

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

for "of". Finally, ''" Arroceros"'' is the

plural The plural (sometimes list of glossing abbreviations, abbreviated pl., pl, or ), in many languages, is one of the values of the grammatical number, grammatical category of number. The plural of a noun typically denotes a quantity greater than the ...

form derived from the

for “rice farmers”, where ''" arroz"'' (“rice”) + ''" -ero"'' (''occupational suffix''). The name suggests origins as a meeting place for local rice farmers around

, before soon becoming a commercial center with Chinese merchants. "''Pantin''" may be derived from

Hokkien The Hokkien () variety of Chinese is a Southern Min language native to and originating from the Minnan region, where it is widely spoken in the south-eastern part of Fujian in southeastern mainland China. It is one of the national languages ...

, possibly referring to the living quarters upstairs in the structure of the

shophouses A shophouse is a building type serving both as a residence and a commercial business. It is defined in dictionary as a building type found in Southeast Asia that is "a shop opening on to the pavement and also used as the owner's residence", a ...

that many Chinese (

) merchants traditionally lived in.

Current structures

Walled City of Manila, detail from Carta Hydrographica y Chorographica de las Yslas Filipinas (1734)

The modern areas of Liwasang Bonifacio and

in the

Ermita Ermita is a district in Manila, Philippines. Located at the central part of the city, the district is a significant center of finance, education, culture, and commerce. Ermita serves as the civic center of the city, bearing the seat of city ...

district occupy the areas once known as Parián. Part of the land of the former Parián is now occupied by the

Manila Metropolitan Theater The Metropolitan Theater ( fil, Tanghalang Metropolitan), abbreviated as MET, is a Philippine Art Deco building found near the Mehan Garden located on Padre Burgos Avenue corner Arroceros Street, near the Manila Central Post Office. It was desi ...

. A map of Manila published in 1671 published by the

Archivo General de Indias The Archivo General de Indias (, "General Archive of the Indies"), housed in the ancient merchants' exchange of Seville, Spain, the ''Casa Lonja de Mercaderes'', is the repository of extremely valuable archival documents illustrating the history ...

, the entire area to the northeast between the walls of Intramuros and the Pasig River encompassed PariánVol. 3: The Spanish Conquest. Manila: Asia Publishing, Ltd., 1998.; Zaide, Gregorio F. and Sonia M. Zaide

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parian Geography of Manila History of Manila Ermita