Quiapo is a district of the city of Manila, in the National Capital Region of the Philippines. It was named after the water cabbage that floated out of the Pasig river. Early Indian merchants, specifically the Tamils, entered through the mouth of the river and observed the abundance of floating aquatic plants that resembled bitter lettuce called Kayappu in their language, particularly between the months of August and February. The name has caught on with the locals and was hispanized to present-day Quiapo. The Tagalogs, or the inhabitants of the river, later adopted the name to mean the lily-like plants of the river. Its Tamil name written in Baybayin has endured for almost 2,000 years before the spelling Kiyapo was assigned to the plant after the Spaniards' introduction of the Roman alphabet.
Referred to as the "Old Downtown of Manila", Quiapo is home to the Quiapo Church, where the feast of the Black Nazarene is held with millions of people attending annually. Quiapo has also made a name for itself as a place for marketplace bargain hunting.