Marikina, Industrial city in Metro Manila, Philippines
Marikina is a city in Metro Manila, Philippines, sitting in a valley flanked by hills to the east and neighboring urban districts to the west. Residential streets run alongside factory buildings and small workshops, while a river cuts through the eastern edge and green spaces line portions of its banks.
Spanish missionaries founded the settlement in the 1630s, building a chapel that became the center of organized religious life in the valley. During the American colonial period in the early twentieth century, local entrepreneurs began establishing shoe workshops that eventually grew into the region's dominant industry.
Throughout the urban area, workshops continue to operate where craftspeople work with leather by hand, passing down skills learned from earlier generations. Visitors can watch artisans cutting, stitching, and shaping materials using tools and methods familiar to families who have made shoes here for decades.
Jeepneys run frequently along main routes, connecting neighborhoods and making stops on request, while designated bike paths offer a way to move between districts without heavy traffic. Visitors walking through commercial streets will find sidewalks shaded by awnings, though heavy rain can cause flooding near the river, so checking weather conditions before traveling is advisable.
Around seventy percent of all shoes produced in the Philippines come from workshops and factories located here, with many small family operations continuing to use hand tools passed down through generations. The name comes from a Tagalog word referring to a reed that once grew along the riverbanks and was woven into fish traps.
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