Day 12: Understanding the Culture: A Tour around Cebu!

Old Sto. Nino Church

Cross-culture is one of the aims of the International Citizens Service Program (ICSP). So today, we visited different historical landmarks in Cebu City including museums and churches.

Ferdinand Magellan's Cross

Magellan's Cross. We went to visit the Sto. Nino Church where the old image of baby Jesus that was brought here by the Spaniards. Outside lies Magellan's cross which was preserved in the same site it was put when he first landed in Cebu City. This significant event led to having most Filipinos being Christianize.

 Fort San Pedro. Just a few walks ahead is another historical place which is the "Fort San Pedro" . It is said to be a military defense structure, built by Spanish and indigenous Cebuano labourers under the command of Spanish conquistador, Miguel López de Legazpi and the Spanish Government in Cebu. It is considered as one of the smallest, oldest triangular bastion fort in the country that was built in 1738 to repel Muslim raiders. In turn, it served as a stronghold for Filipino revolutionaries near the end of the 19th century and also served as the nucleus of the first Spanish settlement in the Philippines.

A Beautiful and old structure,
Entrance to Fort San Pedro

Fort San Pedro's View the top where
 the old cannons were placed

After taking our lunch, we stopped by to the short baywalk nearby Fort San Pedro. It's quite a beautiful scenery seeing boats and the cool breeze of air.

Museo Sugbo. In the afternoon, we went to Museo  Sugbo, a provincial museum,  which formerly was used as a prison. It is near the Spanish district of Cebu City called Tejero. In 2004, the jail was moved to a more modern facility and later it was ruled out in 2008 to make into such.

Philippine Peso bills preserved
after the Japanese occupation

Filipina Fashion using Baro't Saya.

We also passed by a monument which depicted the Heritage Monument of the Basilica del Santo Niño, the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral, the Saint John the Baptist Church, the Magellan’s Cross, and a Spanish Galleon.

There were many scenes that was shown which included the baptism of Rajah Humabon, a procession of the Santo Niño, a Roman Catholic mass, and the Battle of Mactan between Lapu-Lapu and Ferdinand Magellan. It is such detailed depiction of Cebu City's history.

It's my first time to have this kind of tour around Cebu City especially going to the museums and other historical sites. It is indeed a privilege to volunteer.