Cebu

Traces from the Spanish and religious past

Center of trade since the birth of "Las Islas Felipinas"  

In 1521 the Spanish period started with the arrival of a small fleet in the coastal waters of Cebu. There was a long period of struggle, but at last, in the year 1565,  the Spaniards succeeded to break the last good organized resistance. From that time, colonial buildings and religious places gave Cebu City more and more a Spanish, and Catholic character.  

From the beginning of the Spanish influences, the islands were given the name "Las Islas Felipinas", named after King Philips II of Spain. The Spaniards made 'Las Islas Felipinas'  their colony and Cebu got the function of the capital in 1565. 

Traces from the religious past in Cebu City

The year 1521 is been seen as the beginning of the Conversion to Christianity of the island and in fact the beginning of baptize the people in the Philippines. The following three hundred and fifty years meant  at last a wide spread of Catholicism in the Philippines. Many relicts from the past are still visible in Cebu City.

The Magellan Cross

Cebu's most famous historical religious landmark is  the first wooden religious cross planted by Fernao Magellan on April 14, 1521. Fernao Magellan was the Portuguese explorer, who was sailing for Spain ' in the name of the King of Spain'. The cross  symbolizes the beginning of the baptizing of the people of the Philippines. The original cross (or remnants of it), it is said, has been preserved. The original cross is now encased in a newer, bigger wooden cross and since  1834 placed  on a concrete pedestal inside a small building named "the kiosk".  It is unclear since when the present cross replaced the original one, but it is believed since 1565.

The kiosk

 the past (1)

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