In 1584, Fray Baltazar de la Magdalena, left Ambos Camarines and stumbled upon this place west of Mount Masaraga. He found that each of the five settlements had about 100 inhabitants. In the same year, he founded a settlement within the fertile valley and established a ranch, which he called Binanuaan. Being inland and strategically situated, the town was spared from the frequent raids of sea pirates as well as from the occasional destruction caused by the eruption of Mayon Volcano.