Welcome to Angeles City in Pampanga, and welcome to Anthro on Foot's walking tour! This is a
self-paced
walking tour that features key heritage sites and cultural highlights in the area. We hope you enjoy
this tour as
much as we enjoyed curating it!
You must be here today as part of your food trip which is no surprise, Pampanga being the Culinary
Capital of
the Philippines. Or you must be on business, with Clark just a stone's throw away from this historic
district.
Whatever your reason is, we are thankful that you've dropped by in this quaint part of town.
Angeles City is the economic epicenter of Pampanga, with industries that range from agriculture and
trades to
infrastructure and telecommunications.
This area was once inhabited by the aetas, an indigenous group in the Philippines. For the past
five centuries,
they've been forced out of the fringes first by the Spanish, then the Americans, the Japanese, and
ironically
enough, their fellow Filipinos. You may come across them as you walk around the city, with their
distinctive
curly hair, dark complexion, and short stature. They now live in settlements outside the city.
The aetas named this part of their domain “Culiat” after the woody vine native to the area. It was
eventually turned
into an agricultural settlement once the Spanish colonizers seized the lands from its indigenous
owners. Culiat
was then renamed “El Pueblo de los Angeles” which translates to “The Town of Angels,” after the
area’s patrons
Don Angel Pantaleon de Miranda, the founder of this city, and “Los Santos Angeles Custodios” which
translates
to “The Holy Guardian Angels.” Nomenclature during this period was religious in nature as Spain used
the
Catholic cross for their so-called benevolent assimilation.
