On the right side of Santo Domingo Church are two educational
institutions founded by the Dominicans, namely Universidad de Sto.
Tomas (now BF Home Condominium) and Colegio de Sta. Rosa . In the
center is a small plaza known as PLAZA SANTO TOMAS.
This was a vacant lot purchased by the Dominicans in 1627 for the
order’s cemetery and garden. In 1708, another piece of land in front of
Colegio de Santa Rosa was bought to be used as a garden. The city
government bought these lots in 1861 for a public plaza to erect the
statue of Isabel II. But the monument was placed in Arroceros instead.
In
1879, the university rector received permission to erect a statue of
U.S.T. founder Archbishop Miguel de Benavides in the plaza.
The BENAVIDES MONUMENT was made in Paris in 1889 through funds
collected among the faculty, students and friends of the university.
Inaugurated in 1891, the monument is a bronze figure of Benavides on a
pedestal facing UST. The base of the statue has the name of the
sculptor and year of the make: TONY NOEL, 1889. The pedestal was
decorated with the seals of the Dominican Order and the university, as
well as plaques on which were written the history of UST and a brief
biography of the archbishop.
The
statue was blown from its place by an artillery shell during the Battle
of Manila. The marble pedestal was totally destroyed. The Benavides
Monument recovered and erected again in 1946 inside the UST Campus in
Sampaloc.
In 2002, the plaza was
renovated and refurbished as part of the 400 th year celebration of the
foundation of UST. A replica of the Benavides statue was erected on the
site. A marker was also placed in honor of the 53 Thomasian graduates
who signed the Malolos Constitution which created the First Philippine
Republic.
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