Quiapo is the commercial and religious heart of old Manila, centred on the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene on Plaza Miranda. The church houses the most venerated religious image in the Philippines — a dark wood statue brought from Mexico in 1606 — and draws constant pilgrims. The plaza and surrounding streets are packed at almost all hours with vendors, jeepneys, and commerce of every variety.
The neighbourhood is an experience in Manila's full intensity: the herbal medicine vendors in front of the church selling folk remedies alongside candles and religious figurines; the Quinta Market and the streets around it stacked with fabrics, electronics, and everything else; the smell of incense and frying food; the omnipresent chaos of traffic. A block away the Bahay Nakpil-Bautista heritage house and the steel San Sebastian Church reward a short walk. Visit in the daytime; the area quiets down and becomes less safe after dark.