In Manila, Metro Manila
Rizal Park (Luneta)
The Philippines' most important urban park.
Rizal Park, also called Luneta, sits at the edge of Intramuros and stretches toward Manila Bay. It's the symbolic heart of the country — the Rizal Monument marks where national hero José Rizal was executed by Spanish colonial forces in 1896.
The park spans 58 hectares and includes the Chinese Garden, Japanese Garden, an open-air auditorium, and the National Museum complex nearby. Sunday afternoons are when locals come to walk, eat ice cream, and listen to the changing-of-the-guard ceremony at the Rizal Monument.
The National Museum of Anthropology at the park's edge holds the bones of Tabon Man, the oldest known human remains in the Philippines (50,000 years old). The adjacent National Museum of Natural History and National Museum of Fine Arts complete the trio. All three are free.
A morning here followed by lunch in Intramuros makes a full half-day of historical Manila in one walkable area.
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