In defense of the faith

Fort Santiago, named after St. James the Greater, the Patron Saint of Spain, was built in 1571, soon after the arrival of Spanish conquistador Miguel López de Legazpi. Renovations were done on the fort in 1773, which included the construction of the Reducto de San Francisco Javier (Redoubt of St. Francis Xavier) and a tunnel leading to it from the main fort. The redoubt added to the defense of the seashore and the mouth of the Pasig River. In the 1980s, the redoubt was restored and converted into a shrine for Our Lady of Guadalupe. A replica of her image was brought to the islands by Fray Andrés de Urdaneta, one of the first five Augustinians in the Legazpi expedition.