The first recorded history of Pili started during the promulgation of Christianity in the early 1770s by the Spanish missionaries, when the town houses the "Cimarrones" or the "Remontados" who resisted the foreign rule of the neighboring Hispanic city of Nueva Caceres.

The latter is because the Americans wanted to make the town as the new provincial urban center due to the fact that Naga City which the Spaniards had developed was prone to major floods.

[6] When World War II broke out in 1941 the Imperial Japanese Army sent 3,000 soldiers to Pili due to the concentration of American developments in the town.

In the present, the heroes of the war were remembered through Filipino-Japanese Friendship Historical Landmark in Sitio Bongcao, Curry at the foot of Mt.

Finally on June 6, 1955, Pili was declared as the provincial capital by virtue of R.A. 1336, replacing Naga City.

The new site for the provincial capitol was the 150 hectare lot donation of Don Susano Rodriguez in the barangay of Cadlan.

Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion in the municipality, where the town is under the jurisdiction of the Archdiocese of Caceres in Naga City.

[17] Through Presidential Proclamation 685, October 24, 2024 was declared a special non-working day to commemorate the Cimarrones Festival.

[9] Attaining a steady progress through time, the capital town is now preparing to be the next chartered city in the province of Camarines Sur.

24, Series of 2020 on June 1, 2020, which created the "Pili Cityhood Committee" headed by Mayor Tom P. Bongalonta Jr.

The committee is tasked to evaluate, study, prepare, and propose the necessary requirements of the law to convert Pili into a chartered city by Later this year.

The barangays of Cadlan and San Jose, located at the northern part of the town, are the center of developments and activities of the provincial government of Camarines Sur.

Now, the area also hosts the Partido Rice Mill, Bicol Biomass Energy Corporation (the first rice husk-fired power plant in Southern Luzon), B-Meg Plant - Southern Luzon Feedmill Inc. (SLFI), Penafrancia Sugar Mill (Pensumil), and giant warehouses of WL Foods Corporation, etc.

[30] Notable landmarks in the economic zone includes the Bicol JL Agri Corporation and the Pili Water District.

Just a neighboring town of Naga City, it is now the host of many housing developments ranging from middle to high class ones.

Housing developments in Palestina includes the Amaia Scapes, Lumina Homes, St. Paul Subdivision, Pamon Village, etc.

Isarog National Park is not only known for its biodiversity and beauty; it is also famous for its clean and cold flowing water.

The vice mayor heads a legislative council consisting of 10 members: 8 councilors, the president of the Sangguniang Kabataan (Youth Council) Federation, representing the youth sector, and the president of the Association of Barangay Chairmen (ABC) as barangay sectoral representative.

It is located inside the main campus of Central Bicol State University of Agriculture at the barangay of San Jose.

The Philippine National Railways have a night train service from Manila called Mayon Limited.

There are two major “school belts” in the town: the San Jose (in the North) and the Pili Centro (in the South).

The “San Jose Belt” stretches along the Maharlika Highway from San Jose North Elementary School (Camarines Sur Freedom Sports Complex) to San Jose South Elementary School, while the “Pili Centro Belt” stretches along the Maharlika Highway from the Universidad de Santa Isabel – Pili Campus up to Pili National High School.

The university also houses the Computer Science High School of Bicolandia in its main campus which is now DepEd-administered.