Fort San Felipe | |
---|---|
La Fortaleza de San Felipe | |
Part of Naval Base Cavite | |
Cavite City in the Philippines | |
Coordinates | 14°28′54.5″N120°55′0″E / 14.481806°N 120.91667°E |
Type | Fortress |
Site information | |
Owner | Government of the Philippines |
Controlled by | Philippine Navy |
Open to the public | No |
Condition | Partly demolished in the early 20th century |
Site history | |
Built | 1609[1] |
Built by | Spanish East Indies |
Materials | Granite and concrete |
Battles/wars | Battle of Manila Bay |
Events | Cavite mutiny of 1872 Execution of the Thirteen Martyrs of Cavite in 1896 |
Fort San Felipe (Spanish : Fortaleza de San Felipe; Filipino : Moog ng San Felipe Neri) is a military fortress in Cavite City, Philippines. It was constructed by the Spanish military in 1609 in the first port town of Cavite, the historic core of the present and larger Cavite City, for its protection. Less than half of the original historic structure survives today. The remaining structure is made of granite blocks with 30-foot high walls and features a wide stairway leading to the top of the bastions and remaining walls. Naval memorabilia including antique cannons and cannonballs decorate the lawns of the fortification. Fort San Felipe is located within the 9-hectare (22-acre) Naval Base Cavite of the Philippine Navy and is not open to the public. [2]
At present, the name Fort San Felipe also refers to the area of the present Cavite City where the first historic port town Cavite (also known as Cavite Nuevo then Cavite Puerto) and the Cavite Arsenal (now Naval Base Cavite) were located. It is now part of the San Roque district of Cavite City. [3]
As early as 1591, Gov. Gomez Perez Dasmariñas recognized the strategic importance of Cavite Puerto as the gateway to the City of Manila and moved toward its fortification. It was in fact at this isthmus, two decades earlier, that Miguel de Legazpi hid his ships prior to the attack in Manila. [1]
Constructed between 1609 and 1616, Fort San Felipe is the first military fortress built in the province of Cavite during the time of Governor Juan de Silva. According to a report in 1659 of Governor Sabiniano Manrique de Lara: "it was quadrilateral in form, with four corner bastions, and had a perimeter of 220 feet (67 m). It was built to face the Cavite Port and Manila. Furthermore, a cube or platform enough for 10 cannons and named Santa Catalina the Martyr was nearby. Facing San Felipe were the ruins of the casa real which had another low platform for eight cannons. However, it was in bad state and had to be repaired." [1]
In August 1663, Governor Sabiniano Manrique de Lara ordered the construction of a platform at the entrance of Fort San Felipe that would handle 10 cannons. After some years, four more platforms followed, each were named after Catholic saints. [4]
From 1679 to 1688, the fort was used as a prison for Fernando de Valenzuela, former valido to the Queen Regent Mariana of Austria. [5]
The Cavite Mutiny of 1872 was an uprising of military personnel of the Spanish arsenal in Cavite including Fort San Felipe, on January 20, 1872. Around 200 soldiers and laborers led by Sergeant Francisco La Madrid rose up in the belief that it would elevate a national uprising. The event led to the killing of the governor of the fort but was quickly suppressed on January 22. The government soldiers executed many of the participants and began to crack down on a burgeoning nationalist movement. The uprising also resulted in the unjust implication and the tragic execution by garrote of Filipino priests Mariano Gomez, Jose Burgos, and Jacinto Zamora on February 17, 1872. [4] [6]
Many scholars believe that the Cavite Mutiny of 1872 was the beginning of Filipino nationalism that eventually lead to the Philippine Revolution of 1896. [7]
On September 12, 1896, at 12:45 p.m., thirteen Filipino patriots were taken to the Plaza de Armas, outside Fort San Felipe, and were executed by musketry. The thirteen were leaders of the foiled uprising planned at the Cavite Arsenal on September 3. After the Spanish authorities learned about the plan from a Filipino dressmaker, they immediately arrested Severino Lapidario, Alfonso de Ocampo and Luis Aguado. The rest were rounded up on September 3 after their names were revealed by De Ocampo after being tortured. The group of heroes is now collectively known as the Thirteen Martyrs of Cavite.
Among the revolutionaries captured were musician Julián Felipe (who would compose the Philippine national anthem the following year). Felipe was incarcerated for nine months at Fort San Felipe. Also subsequently released were Pablo and Marcos José, and Juan Castañeda of Imus.
During the early year of the American occupation, only the façade, the main entrance with flanking curtain walls, and the two bastions at the ends remain of the old port. The rest were demolished by the Americans during the early 20th century to make way for a naval station. [1] The fort is located inside Naval Base Cavite, which is off limits to the public.
Metropolitan Manila, commonly shortened to Metro Manila and formally the National Capital Region, is the capital region and largest metropolitan area of the Philippines. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay, the region lies between the Central Luzon and Calabarzon regions. Encompassing an area of 636.00 km2 (245.56 sq mi) and with a population of 13,484,462 as of 2020, it is composed of sixteen highly urbanized cities: the capital city, Manila, Caloocan, Las Piñas, Makati, Malabon, Mandaluyong, Marikina, Muntinlupa, Navotas, Parañaque, Pasay, Pasig, Quezon City, San Juan, Taguig, and Valenzuela, along with one independent municipality, Pateros. As the second most populous and the most densely populated region in the Philippines, it ranks as the 9th most populous metropolitan area in Asia and the 6th most populous urban area in the world.
The Katipunan, officially known as the Kataastaasang Kagalanggalangang Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan and abbreviated as the KKK, was a revolutionary organization founded in 1892 by a group of Filipino nationalists Deodato Arellano, Andrés Bonifacio, Valentin Diaz, Ladislao Diwa, José Dizon, and Teodoro Plata. Its primary objective was achieving independence from the Spanish Empire through an armed revolution. It was formed as a secret society before its eventual discovery by Spanish authorities in August 1896. This discovery led to the start of the Philippine Revolution.
Cavite, officially the Province of Cavite, is a province in the Philippines located in the Calabarzon region in Luzon. Located on the southern shores of Manila Bay and southwest of Manila, it is one of the most industrialized and fastest-growing provinces in the Philippines. As of 2020, it has a population of 4,344,829, making it the most populated province in the country if the independent cities of Cebu are excluded from Cebu's population figure.
The Battle of Manila Bay, also known as the Battle of Cavite, took place on 1 May 1898, during the Spanish–American War. The American Asiatic Squadron under Commodore George Dewey engaged and destroyed the Spanish Pacific Squadron under Contraalmirante Patricio Montojo. The battle took place in Manila Bay in the Philippines, and was the first major engagement of the Spanish–American War. The battle was one of the most decisive naval battles in history and marked the end of the Spanish colonial period in Philippine history.
Cavite City, officially the City of Cavite is a 2nd class component city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 100,674 people.
Gomburza, alternatively stylized as GOMBURZA or GomBurZa, refers to three Filipino Catholic priests, Mariano Gómes, José Burgos, and Jacinto Zamora, who were executed by a garrote on February 17, 1872, in Bagumbayan, Philippines by Spanish colonial authorities on charges of subversion arising from the 1872 Cavite mutiny. The name is a portmanteau of the priests' surnames.
The Philippine Revolution was a war of independence waged by the revolutionary organization Katipunan against the Spanish Empire from 1896 to 1898. It was the culmination of the 333-year colonial rule of Spain in the archipelago. The Philippines was one of the last major colonies of the Spanish Empire, which had already suffered a massive decline in the 1820s. Cuba rebelled in 1895, and in 1898, the United States intervened and the Spanish soon capitulated. In June, Philippine revolutionaries declared independence. However, it was not recognized by Spain, which sold the islands to the United States in the Treaty of Paris.
During the Spanish colonial period in the Philippines (1565–1898), there were several revolts against the Spanish colonial government by indigenous Moro, Lumad, Indios, Chinese (Sangleys), and Insulares, often with the goal of re-establishing the rights and powers that had traditionally belonged to Lumad communities, Maginoo rajah, and Moro datus. Some revolts stemmed from land problems and this was largely the cause of the insurrections that transpired in the agricultural provinces of Batangas, Ilocos sur, Cavite, and Laguna. Natives also rebelled over unjust taxation and forced labor.
The Thirteen Martyrs of Cavite were Filipino patriots in Cavite, Philippines who were executed by firing squad on September 12, 1896, for cooperating with the Katipunan during the Philippine Revolution against Spain. The de facto capital city of Trece Martires in Cavite is named after them.
The Cavite mutiny was an uprising of Filipino military personnel of Fort San Felipe, the Spanish arsenal in Cavite, Philippine Islands on January 20, 1872. Around 200 locally recruited colonial troops and laborers rose up in the belief that it would elevate to a national uprising. The mutiny was unsuccessful, and government soldiers executed many of the participants and began to crack down on a burgeoning Philippines nationalist movement. Many scholars believed that the Cavite mutiny was the beginning of Filipino nationalism that would eventually lead to the Philippine Revolution.
Diego Fajardo Chacón was a Spanish military officer and governor of the Philippines, from August 11, 1644 to July 25, 1653.
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The Battles of La Naval de Manila or Battle of Manila Bay were a series of five naval battles fought in the waters of the Spanish East Indies in the year 1646, in which the forces of the Spanish Empire repelled various attempts by forces of the Dutch Republic to invade Manila, during the Eighty Years' War. The Spanish forces, which included many native volunteers, consisted of two, and later, three Manila galleons, a galley and four brigantines. They neutralized a Dutch fleet of nineteen warships, divided into three separate squadrons. Heavy damage was inflicted upon the Dutch squadrons by the Spanish forces, forcing the Dutch to abandon their invasion of the Philippines.
The Cry of Pugad Lawin was the beginning of the Philippine Revolution against the Spanish Empire.
Julián Reyes Felipe was a Filipino composer of the music of the Philippine national anthem, formerly known as "Marcha Nacional Filipina", now known as "Lupang Hinirang".
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Naval Station Pascual Ledesma, also known as Cavite Naval Base or Cavite Navy Yard, is a military installation of the Philippine Navy in Cavite City. In the 1940s and '50s, it was called Philippine Navy Operating Base. The 9-hectare (22-acre) naval base is located at the easternmost end of Cavite Point in the San Roque district of the city. Via traffic lane, this naval establishment is next to the famous Samonte Park. It was the former extension of U.S. Naval Station Sangley Point which is now Naval Station Heracleo Alano. In 2009, it was named after Cmdre. Pascual Ledesma, a leader of the Philippine Revolution and the first Officer-In-Command of the Philippine Navy.
Máximo F. Inocencio was a Filipino architect and businessman involved in construction, shipping, trade and lumber. He figured in the 1872 Cavite mutiny and was a financial supporter of the Philippine Revolution, leading to his execution by the Spaniards in 1896. Consequently, he and the other Filipinos executed came to be known as the Thirteen Martyrs of Cavite.
Polo y servicio was the forced labor system without compensation imposed upon the local population in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial period. In concept, it was similar to Repartimiento, a forced labor system used in the Spanish America.