Location : 21.0 km.
Town Fiesta : October 9-10
Patron Saint : St. Francis of Assisi
Places of Interest : 17th century church - made of coral, a Moorish cathedral with Islamic influences

Historical Notes:

Before the Spaniards came, Naga was already populous with settlers coming from as far as Bohol who were attracted by its rich fishing grounds. Another attraction was the tanmarks used for coloring clothes, fishing nets and even boats. The place where these tanbarks abound was fittingly called “Tinaan” (a place for dyeing). Today, barangay Tinaan still exists.

For easy management, the Spaniards formed the numerous settlers into one organizational unit headed by a cabeza de barangay. Having been organized, the church was next to be constructed for the needs of its parishioners. The parish and the town were created in 1829. Fr. Santos Maraņon designed the church, which was built by Fr. Aguirre. Fr, Emilio Magaz, on the other hand, initiated the work on the cemetery and convent. The latter being completed by Fr. Ros and Fr. Gonzales. The municipal tribunal was erected by Fr. Carbonnel and Aguirre.

The settlements of Tinaan and Tuyan rivaled for the site of the church. To show impartiality, the Spanish priest and authorities agreed to construct the church on a place between the two contending villages. The fortunate area is now the Poblacion of Naga. The name comes from the trees abundant in that place before. - our Philippine national tree, the narra. It is called naga in Cebuano. The church is made with hard wood with the parishioners providing free labor. The first Spanish priest was Rev. Fr. Anastacio del Corro.

Glicerio Canonigo was the first head of Naga’s civil government with the title of gobernadorcillo. In the revolution of 1896, Glicerio Canonigo turned rebel leading his constituents against the Spaniards because they were forced to pay P200 each to be used to quench the revolution of their fellow Filipinos. Marcelo dela Cerna was his captain of the guards. After the revolution, when the civil government was reestablished by the American authorities, Juan Mercado was its first president. Victor Bartido was the first municipal president during the American regime.

During the Spanish regime, the galleons got their coal form the mines of Doņa Margarita Roxas situated in Barrio Alfavo and surrounding sites. The first cement factory was installed in Naga, whose product was the first cement used in the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco, California.

^{Reprinted from the book: Cebu In Legend and History
By: Lavilles de Paula}