Philippines · National Capital Region · San Juan
Santa Cruz, San Juan — Area Guide & Where to Stay
Santa Cruz is a district in the northern part of the City of Manila, on the right bank of the Pasig River near its mouth.
About Santa Cruz
Where to stay in Santa Cruz
Not every neighbourhood fits every trip — here's what each one is good for.
Santa Cruz puts a traveller inside Manila rather than beside it, with Binondo, Quiapo and Tondo in the neighbouring streets and the Pasig River along its edge. Rooms here are city rooms. Anyone whose days run between the University of Santo Tomas Field, the neighbouring district of Quiapo and the river will walk more than they ride. Caloocan and Quezon City begin past the far edge of the district, which puts Grace Park and La Loma within the same short journey.
About Santa Cruz
What are the main landmarks in Santa Cruz?
The university names dominate. UST Museum of Arts and Sciences, the Quadricentennial Pavilion and the University of Santo Tomas Field all stand within Santa Cruz, three names from a single institution. Faith supplies the rest, from Knox United Methodist Church to the Iglesia ni Cristo chapel at Washington, with the Jusay Ancestral House standing for the older domestic architecture of the district.
Nothing here is far from the Pasig River.
What is the history of Santa Cruz?
Churches came in more than one denomination. Knox United Methodist Church and the Iglesia ni Cristo chapel at Washington stand alongside the older parish tradition of the district, and the Jusay Ancestral House keeps a family's building among them. Santa Cruz belongs to the 3rd congressional district of Manila.
University buildings anchor the other half of the past, with the University of Santo Tomas Field and the Quadricentennial Pavilion carrying names that mark four centuries of the school they belong to.
Where is Santa Cruz?
The Pasig River runs past one side of Santa Cruz, and Tondo, Binondo, Quiapo and Sampaloc press in around the others.
Good for
More areas in San Juan
Updated August 2026