History of the Ateneo de Manila
The Ateneo de Manila University (Filipino: "Pamantasang Ateneo de Manila") is a private research university in Quezon City, Philippines. Founded in 1859 by the Society of Jesus, the Ateneo is the third-oldest university in the Philippines.
The founding of the Ateneo de Manila University has its roots in the history of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) as a teaching order. The first Spanish Jesuits in the Philippines, Alonzo Sánchez and Antonio Sedeño, arrived in 1581 as missionaries. They were custodians of the "ratio studiorum", the Jesuit system of education developed around 1559. Within a decade of their arrival, Sedeño and the Jesuits had founded the Colegio de Manila ("Colegio Seminario de San Ignacio") in the historic core of Manila, Intramuros, in 1590. The Colegio formally opened in 1595, the first school in the Philippines.
Ateneo de Manila University
Overlooking the Marikina Valley, the 83-hectare (205 acres) main campus is located in Loyola Heights, along the eastern side of Katipunan Avenue, and is south of and adjacent to the campus of Miriam College. The Grade School, High School, and Loyola Schools are located in Ateneo's Loyola Heights campus. Beside the Grade School is the Henry Lee Irwin Theater, built in 1995 to house the school's formal events and productions. Complementing the old buildings of the Loyola Schools are the Science Education Complex, as well as the PLDT Convergent Technologies Center-John Gokongwei School of Management Complex. In 2018, the university inaugurated Areté, Ateneo's creative hub, a center for visual, practical, and performing arts. Areté houses the Ateneo Art Gallery, Hyundai Hall (a 900-seat theater), the Doreen Gamboa Fernandez Black Box Theater, the Unionbank Ubuntu Space, and spaces for Ateneo's collaborative degree program with Le Cordon Bleu. The Department of Fine Arts and the Ateneo Institute for the Science and Art of Learning and Teaching also hold office in Areté.