Editing Ermita (section)

===Spanish rule (1570–1898)===

During Spanish rule, the town was recorded by Miguel de Loarca in 1582:

{{quote|''On the coast near Manila are '''Laguo''', [[Malate, Manila|Malahat]], [[Don Galo|Longalo]], [[Parañaque|Palañac]], [[Bacoor|Vakol]], [[Kawit|Minacaya]], and [[Cavite City|Cavite]]. All these settlements are in the neighborhood of Cavite, and belong to his Majesty, to whom they pay tribute.''|author=Miguel de Loarca|source=Relacion de Yslas Filipinas (1582)<ref>{{Cite book |url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/16501/16501-h/16501-h.htm#d0e420 |title=The Philippine Islands, 1493–1803 |date=1906 |publisher=Arthur H. Clark Company |editor-last=Blair |editor-first=Emma Helen |volume=5: 1582–1583 |page=83 |editor-last2=Robertson |editor-first2=James Alexander}}</ref>}}

Lagyo was re-christened in the 17th century as ''La Hermita'' ([[Spanish language|Spanish]] for "the [[Hermitage (religious retreat)|hermitage]]") after the fact that a Mexican hermit resided in the area and on this site was built a hermitage housing an image of the [[Mary (mother of Jesus)|Virgin Mary]] known as the [[Our Lady of Guidance|''Nuestra Señora de Guia'' (Our Lady of Guidance)]]. The hermit-priest's name was Juan Fernandez de Leon, who was a hermit in Mexico before relocating to Manila.<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.530346/2015.530346.jesuits-in_djvu.txt "Jesuits In The Philippines (1581–1768)" Page 132] "In 1591 there arrived in Manila a secular priest named Juan Fernandez de Leon. He had led a hermit's life in Mexico and planned to continue it in the Philippines. For this purpose he built himself a retreat near a wayside shrine just outside the city walls which was dedicated to Our Lady of Guidance, Nuestra Sehora de Guia. His hermitage later gave its name to the entire district,  which is called Ermita to this day."</ref> 

The hermitage has since evolved into [[Ermita Church]], rebuilt several times since the early 17th century.<ref>By Sword and Fire: The Destruction of Manila in World War II 3 February – 3 March 1945, p. 85-86</ref> During the Spanish evacuation of Ternate in present-day Indonesia, the 200 families of mixed Mexican-Filipino-Spanish and Papuan-Indonesian-Portuguese descent who had ruled over the Christianized [[Sultanate of Ternate]] and included their sultan who converted, were relocated to [[Ternate, Cavite]], and Ermita, Manila.<ref>Zamboangueño Chavacano: Philippine Spanish Creole or Filipinized Spanish Creole? By Tyron Judes D. Casumpang (Page 3)</ref>

By the 19th century, although still considered as an "''arrabal''{{Hair space}}", which refers to a ''rural area'', urban expansion had slowly reached the northern portion of the district mainly due to the development of the ''Luneta'', also called ''Bagumbayan'', as a promenade at the coast of Manila Bay. The district also saw the construction of the [[Manila Observatory]] by Father Federico Faura during the early 1890s. It was once located on a [[Padre Faura Street|street]] now named after Fr. Faura himself. Ermita then developed a creole language based on Spanish called [[Chavacano#Ermiteño|Ermiteño]], which eventually became extinct after the devastation of the [[Second World War]]. However, it still has a [[Chavacano#Caviteño/Ternateño 2|surviving cousin language]] spoken in nearby [[Cavite]].{{Citation needed|date=January 2024}}