Meycauayan

About Meycauayan

Meycauayan [meɪkɐˈwajan], officially the City of Meycauayan (Filipino: Lungsod ng Meycauayan), is a component city in the province of Bulacan, Philippines. According to the 2024 census, it has a population of 228,023 people.

The place got its name from the Tagalog words may kawayan which is literally translated to English as there is bamboo. It was formerly known as Mecabayan [mekəˈbajən], a Kapampangan name, and alternatively as Meycawayan.

During the Spanish colonization of the country, the town of Meycauayan was established as a settlement by a group of Spanish priests belonging to the Franciscan Order. In 1578, its early inhabitants came into contact with Christianity. In that same year, Father Juan de Placencia and Diego Oropesa built the first church structure, which was believed to be made of nipa and bamboo. Common to all Spanish settlements in that period was the adoption of a patron saint for the newly opened town. Meycauayan has St. Francis of Assisi as the patron saint. It was only in 1668, however, that a concrete church structure was erected.

The 1818 Spanish census recorded the area having 2,375 native families and 16 Spanish-Filipino families. Meycauayan...

Overview adapted from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA. Photography via Wikimedia Commons.