Cavite

Cavite, officially the Province of Cavite (Tagalog: Lalawigan ng Kabite; Chavacano: Provincia de Cavite; Filipino: Lalawigan ng Cavite), is a province of the Philippines located in the Calabarzon region. Situated in the southern shores of Manila Bay, it is one of the most industrialized and fastest-growing provinces in the Philippines.

The province holds major historical significance, with most of the Philippine Revolution taking place in several areas of Cavite. The revolution ultimately led to the renouncement Spanish colonial control, culminating in the Philippine Declaration of Independence on June 12, 1898 in the town of Kawit. The old provincial capital, Cavite City, also hosted docks for the Manila galleon, becoming an essential part of commerce between Asia and Latin America at the time.

The name "Cavite" comes from the Hispanicized form of kawit (alternatively kalawit), Tagalog for "hook", in reference to the small hook-shaped peninsula jutting out to Manila Bay. The name originally applied to the peninsula, Cavite La Punta (now Cavite City) and the adjacent lowland coastal area of Cavite Viejo (now Kawit, reverting to the original native spelling). The peninsula was also known in the pre-colonial era as Tangway, from Tagalog for "peninsula".

Edmund Roberts, in his 1821 memoir, stated that the "natives" called it Caveit due to the "crooked point of land extending into the sea".

The present Cavite City was once a mooring place for Chinese junks that came to trade with the settlements around Manila Bay. The land was formerly known as "Tangway". Archeological evidence in coastal areas shows prehistorical settlements.

Spanish colonizers who arrived in the late 16th century saw the unusual tongue of land jutting out on Manila Bay and saw its deep waters as the main staging ground where they could launch bulky galleons. It would later become the most important port linking the colony to the outside world through the Manila-Acapulco Galleon trade. In 1571, Spanish colonizers established the port and City of Cavite and fortified the settlement as a first line of defense for the city of Manila. Galleons were built and fitted at the port and many Chinese merchants settled in the communities of Bacoor and Kawit, opposite the Spanish city to trade silks, porcelain and other oriental goods.

"A defensive curtained wall was constructed the length of Cavite's western side," beginning from the entrance, "La Estanzuela", and continuing to the end of the peninsula, "Punta de Rivera", with the eastern shore unprotected by a wall. Cavite contained government offices, churches, mission buildings, Spanish homes, Fort San Felipe and the Rivera de Cavite shipyard. Docks were in place to construct galleons and galleys, but without a dry dock, ships were repaired by careening along the beach.

Fort San Felipe, La Fuerza de San Felipe, was built between 1609 and 1616. This quadrilateral structure of curtained walls, with bastions at the corners, contained 20 cannons facing the seashore. Three infantry companies, 180 men each, plus 220 Pampangan infantry, garrisoned the fort.