‘Peaceful’ galleon and a glimpse of Philippines’ maritime history at Museo del Galeon

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MANILA, Philippines — For 10 years, news of a galleon museum located at a popular mall complex in Pasay City floated since the groundbreaking was held in 2014. 

For years, an imposing structure that looked like the vessel of yesteryears caught attention of passersby who were wondering when the said museum will ever open. 

Today, Museo del Galeon opens its doors to the public. 

With direct access from Mall of Asia, museumgoers’ first view upon entering the 9,000-square-meter museum is the 40-meter long, 30-meter high Galeon Espiritu Santo.

Historian and the museum’s executive director Manuel L. Quezon III told the media at last week’s preview that they picked up Galeon Espiritu Santo as the museum’s main highlight for its unique story. 

Quezon referenced the ongoing blockade at the Strait of Hormuz caused by the geopolitical tension in the Middle East. Priced commodities, such as oil, have soared with gas-dependent industries being the most affected. 

Over 500 years ago, the Manila galleon trade was invented out of necessity for an alternative route from the usual land route between Spain and the other parts of the world for commerce. 

“The whole reason that there is a galleon, the whole reason that the Spanish even came here was there was a similar bottleneck 500 years ago when the Silk Road was closed because of the clash between Christianity and Islam. With the Fall of Constantinople, the flow to Europe of spices from our part of the world stopped. They had to find another route. That other route took them here,” Quezon said. 

Constantinople was the capital of the Byzantine Empire and it fell under the Ottoman Empire in 1453. The Manila-Acapulco Galleon Trade, a trading route from the Mexican city of Acapulco to the Philippine city of Manila, started in 1565 and lasted until 1815. 

“This, galleon I think it is a really good example and I'm gonna make people nervous here, but originally when they were looking for all the 181 galleons that were ever built, which is going to be our prototype galleon, right? And the research that was done showed that while every galleon was a cargo vessel, their cargo was so precious they had to keep it protected. That's why you have those guns and that there were very, very few galleons that actually had a peaceful and tranquil existence,” Quezon pointed out, referring to the holes where cannons are placed on the side of galleon. 

“And when push came to shove, the one they could have been sure of was the Espiritu Santo built in 1602 in Cavite. Until history further revealed that actually when it was already in retirement, it came out for one last battle because it was needed. So, most of its life was peaceful,” the historian said. 

Trustee Gerardo Borromeo shared that the Galeon Espiritu Santo’s selection showed the its late founding director and former senator Edgardo “Sonny” Angara’s “statemanship.” 

“He didn't want to identify something that was always in a battle. So that was one of the criteria. The other one was, it happened to just be built and sanctioned just across the place [Sangley, Cavite] and they know exactly in the shipyard was built. Facing each other, the fact that at that time, the thinking was, well, maybe this was one of the few that did not have to battle with anyone,” Borromeo said. 

Inside the galleon, visitors will see how the ate with their limited rations including valuable root crops and their precious cargo — silver and spices. There is also a basement where the unlucky crew had to sleep in barely livable conditions in a voyage that could take months across the other part of the world. 

The upper deck features the rudimentary masts and riggings that set the ship in motion, with a digitalized constellation of stars above recreating the night view of sailors from centuries past. 

Apart from the centerpiece representation of the 17th century galleon, the museum also features murals and historical replica statue of Filipino hero Lapulapu and sample artefacts of silver, textile and spices that were carried onboard the galleons. 

The musuem is expected to be 100% completed by October. 

Museo del Galeon’s operating hours is from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. from Wednesday to Sunday. 

Ticket prices are: 

• P675 (adult)
• P375 (children above 2 feet and kindergarten to university students from private schools)
• P275 (teachers and kindergarten to university students from public schools).

Children under 2 feet are free while discounted rates are available for senior citizens and persons with disabilities (PWDs). 

— Philstar.com (@PhilstarNews) April 24, 2026

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