UST Museum

Manila

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Housed in the superb American–era main building of the University of Santo Tomas, this museum lays claims to being the oldest in Asia (the university's original campus dates to 1611). The highlight is the wonderful visual arts collection featuring Filipino masters. Otherwise it's a mix of taxidermy, coins, textiles and religious artefacts. The building also has a grim link to WWII, having served as an internment camp that held thousands of Allied soldiers for three years under Japanese occupation.

The building is also noteworthy for its earthquake-resistant design, incorporating construction components interlinked with gaps between.

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  • 500px Photo ID: 133312595 - Established in 1976, the Metropolitan Museum of Manila is the first Philippine art institution to offer a bilingual and pedagogical program. It is partially subsidized by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP or the Central Bank of the Philippines). In 1979 the 'Met' was incorporated into a foundation known as the Metropolitan Museum of Manila Foundation, Inc. officially changing the status of the Museum to an independent, private, nonsectarian, non-political and non-profit cultural foundation...The Museum is responsible for the conservation of some of the country's national treasures. The basement gallery showcases pre-Hispanic gold and pottery artifacts--proof of a flourishing pre-colonial Filipino society actively engaged in international trade and showcasing hallmarks of Filipino art and culture from the 8th to 13th centuries.

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