PEñA.PHILLIP JOHN ANG

History of Legazpi City and other Albay towns
Legazpi City is the capital and the business center of Albay. It was built on mangrove swamps, which once bordered its magnificent deep water port. When the Spanish arrived in 1567 to set out their Christian mission, Albay, Sorsogon, Catanduanes and neighboring Camarines Sur comprised merely a single political unit called “Partido de Ibalon.
The city went through raids by Dutch and Muslim pirates before the arrival of the Spanish and was a horrifying sight of a much bloody battle during the Fil-Am war and WW II. The monument at the intersection of Quezon and Rizal Streets were built to commemorate the defeat of Filipino fighters by American forces in 1900.
Albay is the home of picturesque Mayon Volcano. In 1814, it erupted violently, spraying the community of Cagsawa with tons of hot volcanic boulders and covered the over 1000 townsfolk sheltering a historic church with cinders of lava. This church, which was then called Camalig Church was built in 1587, burned in 1636 and rebuilt in 1724. Now the bell tower, which is the only remain of the tragedy was turned into a park
Survivors of the 1814 tragedy moved to Daraga and built the present very striking European-styled church on the hill overlooking its town.