San Francisco de Malabon Parish Church

The Saint Francis of Assisi Parish Church is the oldest structure in General Trias and one of the most historically significant in Cavite province. Founded by the Augustinian Recollects in 1590, the church gave the town its original name: San Francisco de Malabon. The current stone building dates from later colonial reconstructions and retains the thick-walled, fortress-like architecture typical of Spanish mission churches in the Philippines.

The convent attached to the church now houses the Museo de San Francisco de Malabon, a small collection of colonial-era religious artefacts, photographs from the 19th century, and historical documents related to the town's role in the 1898 revolution. The museum is worth visiting for anyone interested in the period — Cavite province was at the heart of the revolutionary movement, and this church was in the middle of it.

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A story
The church's connection to Philippine independence runs deeper than a plaque. The Banda San Francisco de Malabon, formed from the parish's musicians, played the Marcha Filipina — the music that became the Philippine national anthem — at the Declaration of Independence at Kawit on 12 June 1898. The band rehearsed in the church grounds in the days before the ceremony.