Oct

Magellan’s Cross, The Symbol of Cebu

In this month feature of Yellow-whiskers.com is the Cross of Magellan in Cebu City.

Magellan’s Cross is a Christian cross planted by Portuguese and Spanish explorers as ordered by Ferdinand Magellan upon arriving in Cebu in the Philippines on April 21, 1521. The cross is housed in a chapel next to the Basilica del Santo Niño. The original cross is encased inside the wooden cross that is found in the center of the chapel as inscribed in a plaque below the cross.

The Philippine Historical Committee has written: From time immemorial this spot has been set aside to commemorate the erection of a cross in Cebu by the expedition of Magellan, When King HUmabon of Cebu and his Queen, son and daughters, together with some 800 of their subjects were baptized by Father Pedro Valderama. This hallowed site was improved in 1735 by Rev. Juan Albarran, Prior of San Agustin and in 1834 by Rt. Rev. Santos Gomez Marañon, Bishop of Cebu. The image of Santo Niño found by the expedition of Legaspi in a house near the present site of Cathedral of Cebu is venerated by the faithful in the nearby Church of San Agustin (now known as Basilica del Santo Niño).