Apalit, the blacksmith capital, and Panday Pira
Why Apalit calls itself the blacksmith capital of Pampanga, and its link to the 16th-century cannon maker Panday Pira.
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Discover Pampanga Editors · October 2026
One of Apalit's mottoes is The Blacksmith Capital of Pampanga, and blacksmithing remains the craft it is best known for.
The cannon maker
The town likes to trace that craft to Panday Pira, remembered as the first well-known Filipino maker of cannons. He cast the lantaka for the forces of Rajah Soliman in Manila, and after the Spanish took the city, he worked for Governor-General Miguel Lopez de Legazpi.
Local tradition holds that he lived in Capalangan, a barrio of Apalit, and forged farm tools there. Capalangan's name is said to come from palang, the Kapampangan word for a bolo or machete, fitting for a home of smiths.
A town of the river
Apalit is named after the apalit, or narra, the tree that grew where the parish church now stands and is today the national tree. The town became independent in 1582, and its parish of Saint Peter was founded in 1597. Its 12 barangays line the Pampanga River, where fishing and farming are still the main livelihoods.
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More in Apalit
© Ralff Nestor Nacor on Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SACulture
A relic of Saint Peter in Apalit
In 2017 Apalit's parish received a fragment of Saint Peter's bones, adding to a church already rich in history.
History
Sulipan, the old high society barrio of Apalit
How a riverside barrio of Apalit hosted business, politics and even a Russian grand duke in the late 1800s.
Community
Apung Iru: Apalit's saint who travels by river
Since 1844, Apalit has carried its ivory-faced Saint Peter down the Pampanga River every June. A look at the libad.
Things to do nearby
Attractions
Arnedo House, Sulipan
Nineteenth-century mansion of the Arnedo family in Sulipan, where a Russian grand duke stayed and Rizal is said to have dined.
© Judgefloro on Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SAAttractions
San Pedro Apostol Parish Church, Apalit
Apalit's 1883 neo-Renaissance church of Saint Peter, with trompe l'oeil ceilings and a relic of the apostle enthroned in 2017.
Where to eat nearby
Food Trips
Apalit Gastropark
Food park in Apalit with stalls of different cuisines and live music on weekends, reported as the first in Pampanga's fourth district.