Thirty minutes away, passing through the Aguinaldo Boulevard, is Cavite City. Like Kawit, the name of Cavite City has the same meaning and etymology. Cavite City is a noteworthy place to visit and explore in paradise Philippines because of its rich history.

There are, however, several names still attributed to Cavite City. Its early settlers called it “Tangway,” meaning peninsula. People from other places refer to it as Kawit, because it looked like a sharp-edge part of the hook-shaped land. The Chinese traders or the Sangleyes who came to Cavite to do business with the natives called it Keit, a corruption of the word Kawit.

During the Spanish occupation, the old Tangway, which was at its northern tip, was called “Cavite la Punta” meaning “Tip of Cavite.” When they discovered Cavite la Punta to be a suitable place for the repair of their ships and galleons, they called the place Cavite Nuevo (New Cavite) and moved their settlement there. Later on, the Spaniards fortified the place with Muralla (high thick walls) and surrounded it with moats, the place was called Puerto de Cavite (port of Cavite).

Before touring the port area, it is suggested to visit to the Cavite City Library and Museum (CCLM). This museum building occupies the former City Hall Annex. The museum has a permanent exhibit of photographs of Cavite City’s heroes like the Thirteen Martyrs, Julian Felipe, Ladislao Diwa and other prominent Caviteños in the history of paradise Philippines. Likewise, permanent exhibits of old photographs, memorabilia, relics, old furniture and household objects provides a glimpse of the city as it was during the Spanish period up to the American occupation. From time to time, special exhibits (historical, cultural or artistic) are displayed in the museum.

Its library, on the other hand, was designated as an Official Sister Library Site by no less than the former US First Lady Hillary Clinton, to be part of their White House Millennium Council Project on Sister Libraries. CCLM is the ONLY library in the whole paradise Philippines to be chosen as such and was given this plaque in the process.

Adjacent to the museum is the Cavite City Hall. It is located in pre-World War ll site of “Dreamland Cabaret” and the “Pantalan de Yangco.” This imposing building sits on one end of the City Park. Paseo de Barangay is located at the back of City Hall.

Cañacao Bay can be best viewed here. This bay was port to both the Spanish galleons and the Pan Am Clipper seaplanes. The Skyline of Manila is visible when looking at the mouth of the bay.

Another famous site in the city is the Fort San Felipe located at Sangley Point Naval Base. It is an old structure dating back to 1609 when the Spaniards built it to protect part of the then growing city. The structure is made of granite blocks with walls approximately 30 feet high. A wide stairway leads to the top of the fort where a concrete house structure could be found. Naval memorabilia including antique cannons and cannon balls decorate the lawns. This fort is also the place where the Cavite Mutiny 1872 occurred when Filipino workers were implicated in the armed uprising against the Spaniards. Thirteen Martyrs of Cavite were also executed here.

Located at the top of this wall is the Phil. Navy Museum where miniature of Phil. Naval vessels and other memorabilia are placed.

There is also the 13 Martyrs Centennial Plaza. It was built in 1906 to honor Cavite’s revered martyrs. The remains of the six martyrs are still; inferred in the monument. Through the assistance of the Department of Tourism the former monument was transformed into a Centennial Plaza after the celebration of its 100th year anniversary. It is designed to present the picture of their struggle, trial and execution.

Three plazas and one park are also located along the port area. These are the Plaza de Armas in front of San Felipe Fort, Plaza San Pedro in front of the church and Plaza Soledad in front of Porta Vaga.

Other surrounding walls in the area are the Fuerte Guadalupe on the side and the Porta Vaga. Only the relics of these structures still exist. Collectively known as the Muralla, this is now a well lighted bay front that offers promenades cool breezes during balmy nights. The view of Bacoor Bay shows the tower of the Aguinaldo Mansion as well as the many oyster beds that dot the bay. This area was once called the isthmus of Rosario and at one time featured a drawbridge.

Given the city’s importance in trade, convents and hospitals were built. Among them were the San Diego de Alcala convent built in 1608, the Porta Vaga (La Ermita), Santa Monica (Recoletos), San Juan De Dios, Santo Domingo and San Pedro, the port’s parish church. There was also the Hospital de San Jose, built by the Franciscan fathers in 1591 and founded by the congregation of San Juan de Dios, for sailors and soldiers.

In all, there were eight churches in the walled city -- five in Cavite Puerto, the Ermita, Recoletos, San Juan de Dios, San Pedro and Sto. Domingo, one in San Roque, the San Roque Parish Church and two unfinished ones in Caridad. The belfry of the Old Sta. Monica Church can still be viewed as mute witness to the piety of the early Caviteños.

At present, the San Roque Parish Church, which now houses the image of the “Nuestra Señora dela Soledad de Porta Vaga” (Lady of Solitude of Porta Vaga), is the “only” remaining church in Cavite City.

The Nuestra Señora dela Soledad de Porta Vaga, reputed to be a relic of Spain, is a painting of the Virgin Mary framed in carved wood. The relic is said to have been discovered, beached on the shores between the old Puerto Vaga in Cavite City and Barrio San Roque during the 18th century. The painting, presently set in precious gems, is also known as the “Virgin of a Thousand Miracles” because of many miracles granted to the faithful devotees from the day of its discovery to the present.

The huge Malolos Cathedral is also known as the Basilica Minore. This became the presidential quarters of Gen. Emilio Aquinaldo in 1898. The first convent and church were finished in 1591, and were subsequently enlarged, reconstructed, rebuilt, and frequently restored.

From September 10, 1898, until March 29, 1899, the convent was used as the presidential palace of the First Republic of the Philippines. On March 31, 1899, while General Aguinaldo and his men were fleeing from the Americans, Aguinaldo ordered it burned to the ground as part of his scorched earth policy.

The church was rebuilt during the American occupation and again underwent almost continuous renovation until the present. Pope John Paul II declared the cathedral “Basilica Minore of the Immaculate Conception on Dec. 4, 1999” in recognition of the Bulakeños great love for Mary.

Kalayaan Tree Monument
Infront of the Malolos Cathedral is a historical landmark from the revolution: a huge century-old Siar Tree, now known as Kalayaan Tree Monument, which Aguinaldo planted during a lull in the Congress proceedings. Aguinaldo is said to have conducted many political discussions here. Under the tree is a monument that symbolizes the meeting of Filipino revolutionaries represented by Gregorio del Pilar and Gen. Isidoro Torres; Don Pablo Tecson, an erudite legislator; Padre Mariano Sevilla, a nationalist leader of the church and Doña Basilia Tantoco, portraying a woman freedom fighter.

Now a declared national shrine in the Philippines , Barasoain Church, located at the heart of Malolos' crowning glory, is historically significant that it can be seen in the reverse side of the 10 Philippine peso bill.

It was in Barasoain Church where important episodes in the country’s political history came about: the convening of the First Philippine Congress on Sept. 15, 1898; the drafting of the Malolos Constitution, from Sept. 29, 1898 to Jan. 21, 1899; and the inauguration of the First Philippine Republic on Jan. 23, 1899, making Malolos its national capital.

Built from 1871-1878, a stone church was constructed to replace an earlier one made of wood. A plaque at the church’s facade tells us that the original Barasoain church was destroyed by fire in 1884, after which the building underwent several renovations. Beginning 1885, the Augustinian Jian Giron contracted the services of a builder known only as Magpayo, who rebuilt the church from its foundations using variations of a circular motif.

The church was restored to its original splendor for the Philippine Centennial celebration in 1998. It is said that the way the church looks today is exactly how it looked during the time of the revolution.

Beside the church is the Malolos Convent, now converted into a museum. This served as Emilio Aguinaldo’s residence when he was president. It was also in this convent where the “Universidad Literaria Cientifica de Filipinas” (Literary and Scientific University of the Philippines) was first housed – a project of the revolutionary Malolos government which had existed for one year in 1898 to 1899. Historians traced the founding of the University of the Philippines (UP) not to the American colonialists who had chartered the University in 1908, but to the Universidad Literaria Cientifica de Filipinas.

The church convent now houses both Ecclesiastical Museum and the History Museum, dedicated to the great events that took place in the church. It showcases a collection of municipal antiques and priceless array of artifacts, under the management of the National Historical Institute. The museum is open from Tuesday to Saturday, except on holidays, 8:00am, to 5:00pm. Admission is free.

Among the highlights of the Barasoain Museum is a dramatized audio-visual presentation that recalls important events in Philippine history starting from the declaration of Philippine Independence in Kawit, Cavite, on June 12, 1896, then the great events that took place in the Barasoain church, the Quezon era, the Japanese Occupation, the Liberation period, the inauguration of the present Philippine Republic and the People Power. This 17-minute light-and-sound is a great an introduction for visitors in understanding the history of Malolos and the country’s struggle for independence.

You may wonder where the name “Barasoain” came from. The term was rooted from the Filipino word, “baras ng suwail,” which means “dungeon of the defiant” in English. The Barasoain Church is believed to be the place where anti-Spaniard Filipinos gathered together, even before the revolution. It is also believed that the term was taken from the name of a well-known church at Navarra, Spain. Some Spanish priests and missionaries had gone there and saw a very beautiful church, so they decided to give the same name to the one that they built in Malolos.