Malate, Manila

Malate is a district of Manila, Philippines. Together with the district of Ermita, it serves as Manila's center for commerce and tourism.EtymologyThe word Malate is believed to have stemmed from the corruption of the Tagalog word maalat ("salty"). Tradition notes that the tidewaters from Manila Bay flowed far inland and that seawater intruded into the freshwater collected from wells, thus making the drinking water in the area salty.HistoryMalate during the Spanish colonial period was an open space with a small fishing village. During the Spanish period, the center of activity was the Malate Church, which enshrined Our Lady of Remedies. Devotion to the image was especially popular among pregnant women having a difficult pregnancy.After the United States of America annexed the islands in 1898 as a consequence of the Spanish–American War, American urban planners envisioned the development of Malate as the newest and trendiest exclusive residential area for American families. American expatriates and some of the old Spanish mestizo families populated the district in modern high rise apartments and bungalows.Despite extensive damage after the Second World War, many homes and buildings were still standing. The displaced wealthy families who evacuated their homes during the war returned and re-built their private villas and kept the whole district exclusively residential until the 1970s.