CAVITE

cavite, a fortified seaport, the capital of the province of cavite, luzon, philippine islands, and the seat of the principal asiatic naval station of the united states, on a forked tongue of land in manila bay, 8 m. s. of the city of manila. pop. (1903) 4494; with the barrios of san roque and caridad (on the main peninsula), which are under the municipal government of cavite (15,630). cavite is the terminus of a railway which follows the shore of the bay from manila. the northern part of the town, sangley point (one of the two forks of the main peninsula), is the principal coaling station of the u.s. fleet in asiatic waters. the naval station proper and the old town of cavite are on the south fork of the peninsula. cavite's buildings are mostly of stone, with upper storeys of wood; its streets are narrow and crooked. it has five churches (one of these is an independent filipino church), and is the seat of a provincial high school. cavite has long been the principal naval base of the philippine islands, and one of the four spanish penitentiaries in the islands was here. during the 19th century cavite was the centre of political disturbances in the philippines; in 1896 on the parade ground thirteen political prisoners were executed, and to their memory a monument was erected in 1906 at the head of the isthmus connecting with the main peninsula. the town was nearly destroyed by an earthquake in 1880. it was taken from the spanish by an american squadron under commodore george dewey in may 1898.