Choose wisely. Connect locally.Add your business 
Malolos is the capital of the province of Bulacan, about 42 kilometers north of Manila, with a population of about 270,000 in 2024. Founded as a town by the Augustinians in 1580, it grew into a prosperous river town whose leading families built churches, chapels and fine ancestral houses from the Spanish and American periods.
In 1898 and 1899 Malolos was the capital of the First Philippine Republic. The revolutionary congress met at Barasoain Church, where the Malolos Constitution was drafted and the republic was inaugurated in January 1899, while the convent of the town church served as the presidential palace of Emilio Aguinaldo. The old town center was declared a National Heritage Landmark in 2001.
Today Malolos calls itself the premier heritage city of Bulacan. Visitors come for Barasoain Church and its museum, the cathedral, the Casa Real shrine and the old ancestral houses of the town center, and for festivals such as the January procession of the Santo Niño and the Singkaban arts festival in September.
Barasoain Church in Malolos, built in the 1880s, is where the First Philippine Congress met in 1898 and the First Philippine Republic was inaugurated on January 23, 1899. Called the cradle of democracy in the East, it was proclaimed a National Shrine in 1973 and has a museum by its convent.
Malolos Cathedral, the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, is the mother church of Malolos, its parish founded in 1580 and its present church consecrated in 1826. In 1898 its convent became the presidential palace of Emilio Aguinaldo, and it has been the seat of the Diocese of Malolos since 1962.
Santa Isabel Church in Malolos, dedicated to Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, is a Spanish colonial church and convent built in 1859. It is one of the colonial churches of the city along with the cathedral and Barasoain, and is listed among the places of heritage and historical value in Malolos.
The Casa Real in Malolos was first built in 1580 as the town hall and the seat of the gobernadorcillo, and in 1673 it became the Spanish treasury. Declared a National Shrine in 1965, it now houses the Museum of Philippine Political History, which tells the story of the government of the country.
The Uitangcoy-Santos House in Malolos was the home of Alberta Uitangcoy-Santos, leader of the famed Twenty Women of Malolos, whose school for women opened in 1889. Declared a National Heritage House in 2012, it now holds the Museum of the Women of Malolos with four exhibit halls.
The Jose Cojuangco Ancestral House on Paseo del Congreso in Malolos is the old family house of the Cojuangco clan, one of the Chinese Filipino families that settled in Malolos in the 17th to 19th centuries. It was marked by the National Historical Institute and declared a heritage site in 2009.
The Don Antonio Bautista House in Malolos is an ancestral house built in 1820 and later renovated by the sculptor Isabelo Tampinco, home to Don Antonio Bautista, an aide-de-camp of Emilio Aguinaldo. It stands with the old houses of the historic town center, near the Don Jose Bautista house of 1877.
The Malolos Heritage Town is the historic center of Malolos, declared a National Heritage Landmark in 2001 for its role as capital of the First Philippine Republic. Its old streets are lined with ancestral houses of the Spanish and American periods, colonial churches and historical markers.
The Hiyas ng Bulacan Museum in Malolos is a cultural center and museum about 500 meters from Barasoain Church. It keeps works, relics and manuscripts of noted people of Bulacan such as the poet Francisco Balagtas, Marcelo H. del Pilar, Gregorio del Pilar and Mariano Ponce, and local arts.
The Bulacan Provincial Capitol in Malolos is the seat of the provincial government, an Art Deco building of 1930 designed by the Filipino architect Juan Arellano. Destroyed in the war and rebuilt in 1950, it was renovated in 2017 and 2018, and its grounds hold a park called the Mini-Forest.
The Santo Niño de Malolos Festival is held on the last Sunday of January and is the largest expression of devotion to the Holy Child in Luzon. It begins with an exhibit of Santo Niño images and ends with a grand procession of hundreds of folk, antique and new statues through the streets of Malolos.
The Singkaban Festival in Malolos is the arts and culture festival of Bulacan, held every second week of September with the week of the province. It honors the patron of the capitol, Our Lady of Victory, with balagtasan poetry, kundiman songs and folk dances under its decorative singkaban arches.
No reviews yet. Been to Malolos? Be the first to share your experience.
Share what you loved, what to skip and tips for other travelers.
Log in to write a reviewBeen to Malolos? Add your best shots to the gallery.
Log in to add photos
Central Luzon, Philippines
Central Luzon, Philippines
Calabarzon, Philippines
National Capital Region, Philippines
Western Visayas, Philippines
Davao Region, Philippines
Eastern Visayas, Philippines
Cordillera Administrative Region, Philippines
Photo: Aerous, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Tagaaplaya, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Ralff Nestor Nacor, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Judgefloro, Wikimedia Commons, CC0
Photo: Judgefloro, Wikimedia Commons, CC0
Photo: Ralff Nestor Nacor, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Judgefloro, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
Photo: National Historical Commission of the Philippines, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
Photo: Ralff Nestor Nacor, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: FBenjr123, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: FBenjr123, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Ralff Nestor Nacor, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Ramon FVelasquez, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Judgefloro, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
Photo: Judgefloro, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
Photo: Ramon FVelasquez, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Judgefloro, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Judgefloro, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Ralff Nestor Nacor, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: MyName (tope110383), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Judgefloro, Wikimedia Commons, CC0
Photo: Judgefloro, Wikimedia Commons, CC0
Photo: Ralff Nestor Nacor, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: P1898, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
Photo: Patrickroque01, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Ralff Nestor Nacor, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Judgefloro, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
Photo: Judgefloro, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
Photo: Ralff Nestor Nacor, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: JJ Carpio, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Judgefloro, Wikimedia Commons, CC0
Photo: Judgefloro, Wikimedia Commons, CC0
Photo: Judgefloro, Wikimedia Commons, CC0
Photo: FBenjr123, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Judgefloro, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
Photo: Judgefloro, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
Photo: Judgefloro, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
Photo: Judgefloro, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
Photo: Judgefloro, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
Photo: Patrickroque01, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Unknown authorUnknown author, Wikimedia Commons, CC0
Photo: Ralff Nestor Nacor, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Ralff Nestor Nacor, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Ralff Nestor Nacor, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Ralff Nestor Nacor, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Ralff Nestor Nacor, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Send your link to friends and earn points when they join. Honest reviews and real photos add more. Collect 100 and you're in the round.
No purchase necessary. US residents 18+. Official rules