What to See in Zamboanga - Top Sights and Attractions

City or town hall in Zamboanga City, Philippines. The Zamboanga City Hall is the seat of the local government of Zamboanga City. The National Historical Commission of the Philippines considers the city hall building as a National Historical Site.

The construction of the historic building was commenced in 1905 by the Federal Government of the United States and was completed in 1907. The building served as the official residence of the US Military Governor of the Moro Province. It later became the seat of government of the Department of Mindanao and Sulu and the defunct Zamboanga province. Since 1937, the building has been functioning as the city hall of Zamboanga City. The Zamboanga City Hall has a Filipino colonial architectural design.^[2]

Mosque in Zamboanga City, Philippines. The Taluksangay Mosque was built by Hadji Abdullah Maas Nuno in 1885 in the Barangay Taluksangay, Zamboanga, the Philippines. It is the oldest mosque in Western Mindanao.

Taluksangay was the first center of Islamic propagation in the Zamboanga Peninsula. Muslim religious missionaries from Arabia, India, Malaysia, Indonesia and Borneo have been flocking to this village. A representative of the Sultan of Turkey (Sheik-Al Islam) visited this place in later part of 1914. At the height of the MNLF (Moro National Liberation Front) military conflict in 1973, members of the Quadripartite Committee, Generals Fidel V. Ramos and Romeo Espino, visited Taluksangay village. Even at the height of trouble during the 1970s, tourists continued to arrive in this historical village.

The majority of the inhabitants of Taluksangay are Muslims the descendants of the Sama Banguingui who were branded by history as pirates of Southeast Asia, but never conquered.^[3]

Island in Zamboanga City, Philippines. Great Santa Cruz Island is a small inhabited island in Zamboanga City in the southern region of the Philippines that is famous for its pink coralline sand. The island, located 4 kilometres south of downtown at the Santa Cruz Bank in the Basilan Strait, boasts one of the pink sand beaches in the Philippines. The color of the sand comes from the pulverized red organ pipe coral from eons of surf erosion mixed with the white sand.

The island started to become popular since the 1970s and early 1980s when it was frequented by German, Japanese and Italian tourists. Recently, there's an upsurge of tourists that has been recorded due to its rising popularity as one of a handful of Pink Sand Beaches in the World and is the only one in Asia. In 2017, it was recognized by National Geographic as one of the 21 Best Beaches in the World.^[4]

University in Zamboanga City, Philippines. The Ateneo de Zamboanga University, also referred to by its acronym AdZU is a private Catholic coeducational basic and higher education institution run by the Philippines Province of the Society of Jesus in Zamboanga City, Zamboanga del Sur, Philippines. AdZU began in 1912 as Escuela Catolica, a parochial school run by Spanish Jesuits. It is the second oldest Jesuit school in the Philippines and the second Jesuit school to be named Ateneo. It initially offered primary and secondary education for boys. It became a college in 1952 and a university in August 2001. It operates in three campuses. The main campus located in La Purisima Street, Zamboanga City is where the tertiary and senior high school departments are located and the annex campus in Barangay Tumaga, outside Zamboanga City proper, is where the junior high school and grade school units are located. The third and newest campus is the Lantaka Campus located in N. S. Valderroza St. Zamboanga City. This campus is a former resort hotel which was donated by its owner to the university. AdZU repurposed the facility and is now being used for educational, spiritual, religious, and social development purposes.^[6]