Understand
Ermita takes its name from a hermitage ermita in Spanish containing a 16th-century image of Nuestra Señora de Guia that once stood on the site of today's Ermita Church.
Under American rule, this district became Manila's equivalent of Capitol Hill, with many important government structures rising around the large greensward of Luneta now Rizal Park. Some of these government units have since moved out and the buildings subsequently turned into exhibition space for the National Museum and its sister institution, the Museum of the Filipino People which occupy the old legislative building and the old Finance Department building, respectively.
