San Francisco del Monte, also referred to as SFDM, is a district of

Quezon City Quezon City (, ; fil, Lungsod Quezon ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read in Filipino as Kyusi), is the List of cities in the Philippines, most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a populatio ...

Metro Manila Metropolitan Manila (often shortened as Metro Manila; fil, Kalakhang Maynila), officially the National Capital Region (NCR; fil, link=no, Pambansang Punong Rehiyon), is the capital region, seat of government and one of three List of metrop ...

, the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. It is bisected by two major thoroughfares,

Fernando Poe Jr. Avenue Fernando Poe Jr. Avenue (also referred to as FPJ Avenue and still commonly referred as its former name Roosevelt Avenue) is the principal north–south tertiary road serving the San Francisco del Monte district (colloquially known as Frisco) of ...

and the eponymous Del Monte Avenue, and is bounded by Atty. Pat Senador Sr. Street and Baler Street to the north, and Judge Juan Luna Street, Paraiso Street, and Cooper Street to the east. The district encompasses the barangays of Del Monte, Damayan, Mariblo, and Paraiso, and its water borders are defined by the San Juan River to the west and the Mariblo Creek to the south.

History

San Francisco del Monte may be considered as Quezon City's oldest district. It was founded as a pueblo by then-

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...

missionary Fray Pedro Bautista on February 17, 1590, who named it after

St. Francis of Assisi Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, better known as Saint Francis of Assisi ( it, Francesco d'Assisi; – 3 October 1226), was a mystic Italian Catholic friar, founder of the Franciscans, and one of the most venerated figures in Christianit ...

, founder of the Franciscan Order. ''

Del Del, or nabla, is an operator used in mathematics (particularly in vector calculus) as a vector differential operator, usually represented by the nabla symbol ∇. When applied to a function defined on a one-dimensional domain, it denotes ...

Monte'', which is

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

for "on the mountain" was added to the name not only because the area was hilly, but also to distinguish the place from the San Francisco de Manila Church in

Intramuros Intramuros (Latin for "inside the walls") is the historic walled area within the city of Manila, the capital of the Philippines. It is administered by the Intramuros Administration with the help of the city government of Manila. Present-day I ...

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

. The original land area of the old town of San Francisco del Monte was approximately and covered parts of what is currently known as Project 7 and 8 and

Timog Avenue Timog Avenue is a major road located in Quezon City within the Diliman area of northeastern Metro Manila, Philippines. It runs east–west through the southern edge of the barangay of South Triangle and is used to be named in English as South Av ...

. It was previously part of the town of San Juan del Monte until it was absorbed by

. It later composed of

barangay A barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as barrio (abbreviated as Bo.), is the smallest administrative division in the Philippines and is the native Filipino term for a village, district, or ward. In metropolitan ...

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , s ...

, Paraiso, Paltok, Mariblo, Masambong, Manresa, Damayan and Del Monte. It featured a hilly topography with lush vegetation and mineral springs, in the midst of which the old San Pedro Bautista Church was built as a retreat and monastery for

friars.

Today, it is a heavily populated district with a mix of residential, industrial, and commercial areas. The most prominent educational institutions located in the area are Siena College of Quezon City,

Angelicum College The UST Angelicum College is a private Catholic basic and higher education institution run by the Philippine Dominican Province of the Order of Preachers located in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines. It was founded in July 1972 by the Dominic ...

, and

PMI Colleges PMI Colleges, formerly known as Philippine Maritime Institute, is a private, non-sectarian, co-educational higher education, Maritime institution established on September 18, 1948 in Santa Cruz, Manila, Philippines where its main campus is loca ...

, while

Fisher Mall The Fisher Mall is a mall in Quezon City that opened on January 29, 2014. The location of the mall was formerly occupied by the Pantranco bus terminal. One of the anchors of the mall, Fisher Supermarket, primarily sells fish supplied by Irma Fishi ...

is the largest commercial establishment. The transmitter and studios of

IBC IBC is an initialism that can stand for: Broadcasting *Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation, Channel 13, Philippines * International Beacon Project, Worldwide network of radio propagation beacons *International Broadcast Centre *International ...

are located along Fernando Poe Jr. Avenue. Famous residents include the late Filipino actor Fernando Poe, Jr. whose ancestral home can still be found in Barangay Paraiso along Roosevelt Avenue; the aforementioned avenue would be later renamed after him in 2022.

References

{{Metro Manila populated places Quezon City Populated places established in 1590