The first palace or Palacio Real was constructed in 1599 at the Plaza de Armas in Fort Santiago. After its destruction in the 1645 earthquake, the governor  moved to a house on this site owned by a former government minister,   Manuel Estacio de Venegas. 

The building became the Governor-General's residence and office as well as the Real Audiencia (Supreme Court) office.  Periodic reconstruction and repairs in 1733 and 1747 altered its appearance. Damaged in the 1771 earthquake, the building was repaired six years later. In 1850, the Spanish-type facade was added. 

The building collapsed in the 1863 earthquake and it was abandoned when the Governor-General moved to Malacanang,  It lay in ruins for almost a century until an 8-storey building was built on the site in 1978.

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