Casa ByzantinaThis bahay na bato was originally found at the corner of Madrid Street and Penarubia Street in San Nicolas, Binondo. The ground floor was built of stone and bricks, while the upper storeys were made of various Philippine hard wood. The structure was a typical bahay na bato built to protect the inhabitants from earthquakes.

Galvanized iron sheets were used for the roofing. A decade before the house was built in 1890, the government enforced the use of galvanized iron sheets instead of curved roof tiles as additional protection from earthquakes.

The house is representative of the proliferation of three-storey-high structures in commercial downtown areas outside Intramuros, like Binondo. It also demonstrates the characteristics of a “floral” bahay na bato.

Tinio and Zialcita (1980), of the “Philippine Ancestral Houses,” wrote that the floral period for Philippine ancestral houses flourished during the 1880s to the 1930s. Houses built during the period were characterized by more elaborate yet delicate embellishments compared to the geometric shapes dominant of the previous period.Floral houses, particularly those built during the last few decades of the 19th century, made use of revivalist styles in the form of influences from neo-styles of Renaissance, Baroque, Byzantine, Romanesque, Neo-Mudejar.

Architect Lorelei De Viana (2001), in “Three Centuries of Binondo Architecture,” argues that the house is mainly influenced by the Neo-Mudejar style, as indicated by the Moorish door transom on the exterior, which is echoed in the interior wooden arches and transom traceries.

Since floral houses used styles individually or in combination, it is highly possible that both the Neo-Byzantine style, and to a lesser extent, the Neo-Mudejar style influenced the construction of the house. However, it is important to note that Neo-Mudejar traces its origins in the Byzantine style.

The original house, including the facade, was created by Don Lorenzo del Rosario, and built in 1890. Don Lorenzo was a native principalia, and was one of the numerous building contractors in Binondo (De Viana, 2001).

In 1886, he won the contract to renovate the Tribunal de Sangleyes. In 1914, the house was leased out to Instituto de Manila for elementary and high school classes. It was a school until 1919 when the Instituto moved to its own building in Sampaloc and eventually became what is the University of Manila today.

After the Second World War, the house was leased to various tenants. By 2009, Casa Bizantina had become home to 50 urban poor families. Later, it was demolished and transferred to Bagac, Bataan.