San Nicolas is one of the sixteen districts in the city of

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 Philippines. It is located at the west central part of the city, on the northern bank of

Pasig River The Pasig River ( fil, Ilog Pasig) is a water body in the Philippines that connects Laguna de Bay to Manila Bay. Stretching for , it bisects the Philippine capital of Manila and its surrounding urban area into northern and southern halves. Its ...

bounded by the districts of

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 ...

to the east by Estero de Binondo, and Tondo to the north and west, and by the

to the south. Considered as a heritage district of Manila, this community has kept its 19th-century ancestral houses, which symbolizes the wealthy lives of the people who used to live there, similar to the ancestral houses of Silay and

Vigan Vigan, officially the City of Vigan ( ilo, Siudad ti Vigan; fil, Lungsod ng Vigan), is a 4th class component city and capital of the province of Ilocos Sur, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 53,935 people. Lo ...

. As of the May 1, 2020, national census, the population of San Nicolas, which is composed of 15 barangays named as numbers from 268 to 276 and from 281 to 286, is 42,957. This is slightly lower than the 2010 census that counted San Nicolas residents at 44,241.

History

San Nicolas was originally a fishing town named ''Baybay'', which is also a

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 Ta ...

word for shore. It was renamed to ''San Nicolas'', after the

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or person. I ...

of sailors, boatmen, and mariners. San Nicolas is the western part of the first

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 Austra ...

in the Philippines, and perhaps the world; the eastern part is

, which was founded in 1594 by

Governor-General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

Luis Pérez Dasmariñas. The

Dominican order The Order of Preachers ( la, Ordo Praedicatorum) abbreviated OP, also known as the Dominicans, is a Catholic mendicant order of Pontifical Right for men founded in Toulouse, France, by the Spanish priest, saint and mystic Dominic of Ca ...

came to western part of Chinatown in 1596 and then founded San Nicolas in 1598. This was the first mission by the Dominicans outside

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-da ...

. In 1901, during the American colonization of the Philippines, San Nicolas became a district of the newly chartered city of Manila as its borders were extended outside the walled city presently known as

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 ...

, an American architect and urban planner, was commissioned to build a Plan of Manila. The result of the plan was the making of places and parishes that included San Nicolas. In modern times, San Nicolas is one of the administrative districts of Manila and part of the third legislative district of Manila. It became an extension of the Filipino-Chinese community in Binondo.

Barangays

Barangays 268, 269, 270, 271, 272, 273, 274, 275, and 276 are part of Zone 25; and Barangays 281, 282, 283, 284, 285, and 286 are part of Zone 26.

List of cultural properties of San Nicolas

In art

*''Barrio de San Nicolas—Calle de Ylang-Ylang'', watercolor by José Honorato Lozano, n.d.

Gallery

San Nicolas, Manila Ancestral Houses (7).jpg, Ancestral house San Nicolas, Manila Ancestral Houses (9).jpg, Ancestral house San Nicolas, Manila Ancestral Houses (8).jpg, Ancestral house San Nicolas, Manila Ancestral Houses (2).jpg, Ancestral house 08218jfManila Buildings San Nicolas Binondo Streets Schools Landmarksfvf 07.jpg, Arch of Solidarity 08316jfSan Nicolas Arch Binondo Schools Fire River Landmarks Manilafvf 10.jpg, Fire Station 08125jfManila Pasig River San Nicolas Binondo Streets Landmarksfvf 02.jpg, Jose Abad Santos High School 08125jfManila Pasig River San Nicolas Binondo Streets Landmarksfvf 07.jpg, Justice Jose Abad Santos General Hospital

References