National Museum of Fine Arts

The National Museum of Fine Arts is the country’s main museum devoted to 19th century Filipino master painters, as well as 20th century artists, sculptors and printmakers. The landmark Beaux Arts structure has its own fascinating history: it was originally built in the 1910s to be the national library, but midway through construction changed course to become the national legislature, only to be occupied by Japanese forces during World War II and then heavily bombed by American forces in 1947 and rebuilt in 1949 to be used as government offices for decades.