our lady of guadalupe shrine in fort santiago

as mentioned in yesterday's post, that tunnel is the way that will lead to the hidden chapel inside fort santiago - the our lady of guadalupe shrine, a very small and quaint chapel.

Reducto de San Francisco Javier.  This tunnel and ravelin were added in 1773 during renovations in Fort Santiago.  This area protected part of the riverside area and the seashore.  Cannons were placed on platform on top.  Gunpowder and ammunition were stored in chambers below.  This fortification was restored in the 1980s and has been converted into a shrine for the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe

Enshrined herein is the replica of the image by Juan Diego wherein the tru image of the Blessed Mother was miraculously imprinted before Bishop Zumaraa of Mexico in 1531 and occasioned the instant conversion of natives to Christianity.  A replica was brought to the Philippines in 1565 by Friar Urdaneta in the Legaspi expedition and also occasioned the same instant conversion our Blessed Mother under the title Our Lady of Guadalupe was declared by Pope Pius XI on the 16th of July 1935 as the Heavenly Patroness of the Philippine Islands.