After the fort we put our next destination into Google Maps and since it was only a 10 minute walk, headed there on foot. While it was an easy walk, it wasn't the best showcase for a city. There wasn't always a side walk, traffic didn't seem to pay much attention to street lights, and the street wares people were VERY persistent and pushy. We did pass a 7/11 which was great to go in, get some cold water and a snack, as we carried on our way to our next stop:
Magellan's Cross
The cross is housed in a chapel next to the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño on Magallanes Street just in front of the city center of Cebu City. While the “visible cross” is not the original, it is said to encase the original. The original cross was planted there on March 15, 1521 by Portuguese and Spanish explorers, as ordered by Ferdinand Magellan upon arriving in Cebu. There are 2 beliefs as to why the original cross is not visible. First that the encasement was designed to protect the original cross from people who chipped away parts of the cross for souvenir purposes in the belief that the cross possesses miraculous powers. Second, that the original cross was destroyed or disappeared after Magellan's death and the cross today is a replica that was planted there by the Spaniards after they successfully Christianized the Philippines.
Either way, the cross is cool to see for what it represents to a deeply religious country. The painted ceiling on the inside of the chapel was the main highlight for me, and since you’ll definitely want to see the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño, you may as well stop in to see the cross.
Santo Niño Basilica
After the cross which is in the main square, you follow a small alley to get to the Basilica. There is a security checkpoint there to get through where they search bags... both Tippe and I looked at each other with a big laugh thinking about emptying out all our luggage in our backpacks. Luckily there was a small cafeteria right there that we decided to camp out in with one of us watching the bags while the other explored the Basilica grounds.
It was a breeze going through the bag check after that lol. The square beyond that is pretty magnificent. It included a museum and the actual Basilica on one side, and on the other, a "pilgrimage center." The center was built to hold the mass crowds who congregate for Holy Mass on Fridays and other Religious festivals. Essentially it reminded me of St. Mark's Square in Rome, if the Philippines had its own version.
In front of the party center
The Santo Niño Basilica, (Minor Basilica of the Holy Child of Cebú) is a minor basilica in Cebu City in the Philippines that was founded in the 1565. The oldest Roman Catholic church in the country, it is built on the spot where the image of the Santo Niño de Cebú was found during the expedition of Miguel López de Legazpi (you follow me, same guy that built the fort..) The icon, a statue of the Child Jesus Christ, is the same one that was presented by Ferdinand Magellan to the chief consort of Rajah Humabon upon the royal couple's christening on April 14, 1521. It was found by a soldier forty years later, preserved in a wooden box, thus marking the spot and day when the first church would be built. The first church to be built on the site where the image of the Holy Child was found was burned down on November 1, 1566. It was said to be built by Fr. Diego de Herrera using wood and nipa (a type of palm tree. A new church was started in 1605 and finished in 1626 but was again burned down in March 1628. The 3rd model was begun 1628, this time using stone and bricks (a great innovation at that time), but the construction was stopped because it was found to be defective.
The gardens inside the chapel complex were so beautiful!
The present building was started on February 29,1735 and completed in 1739. It’s actually a lovely symbol of community coming together as the church in the area did not have means to complete it on its own. So, the parishioners of Opon and San Nicolas contributed materials, while the people of Talisay contributed labor.
*Note as you enter the chapel, they have skirt wraps for you to cover your legs if you are wearing shorts or short skirts... though of course on my tall frame, the wrap skirt still barely covered my upper leg. Oops! Glad they let me in!
Between 1739 and 1889, the church underwent multiple renovations including adding the windows, but the church retained much of its original features.
In 1965, His Eminence Ildebrando Cardinal Antoniutti, Papal Legate to the Philippines, conferred the church the honorific title Basilica Minore upon the authority of Pope Paul VI. As a Minor Basilica, it is given precedence over other churches and other privileges. Pope Paul VI at the time, said it is "the symbol of the birth and growth of Christianity in the Philippines.”
Then onto our last cultural stop of the day:
The Heritage of Cebu Monument
After visiting the Basilica we had one last stop to see in Cebu city: The Heritage of Cebu Monument.
We'd somewhat debated going to see this since we were closer to the South Terminal Bus stop at the Basilica, but after deliberation, it would only add 15 minutes of walking and we decided it was worth it... That is still being debated in my mind. On one hand, the monumnet looked and was cool. But the walk there was HOT, long, and again not the prettiest part of town. At one point we had a homeless person trail us several blocks asking for money for food. Everytime we'd speed up and out walk him, but he would catch up as we had to wait for traffic at intersections. Luckily once we got to the monument, we spent long enough looking at it and wandering around (out of view) that I suppose he lost interest. Either way it was a hot nerve wracking walk.
The monument itself is massive and interesting, but the information plaques are all largely sun faded (so you couldn't read about what you are seeing) but here's what I learned: The Heritage of Cebu Monument is a tableau of sculptures made of concrete, bronze, brass and steel showing scenes about events and structures related to the history of Cebu. The construction of the monument began in July 1997 and it was finished in December 2000. The structures depicted in the Heritage Monument are the Basilica del Santo Niño, the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral, the Saint John the Baptist Church, the Magellan’s Cross, and a Spanish Galleon. The scenes depicted in the Heritage Monument are 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. The persons depicted in the monument include the late president Sergio Osmena Sr. and Blessed Pedro Calungsod.
I also learned that apparently the area the are the monument is located in was home to the residences of the most prominent families in Cebu during the Spanish period. It wasn't that glamorous when we walked through there but there are apparently a few private museums close by that depict what the houses and life looked like back in the day.
The South Cebu Bus Station
After the monument, we braved the walk to the bus station. Luckily it looked like we'd be walking by a college and through much more populated areas. The bus station also borders a mall which was nice as we headed into the AC of the golden arches (McDonalds) to try SEA's nuggets, picked up some proper sun screen for me, and then went in search of our next ride.
The bus station was pretty chaotic with lots of buses going the direction you need to go ( I mean... there's only 1 highway to get to Oslob) we told a friendly looking driver which direction we were headed and he said he could drop us off at our hotel. Great. Then for me I hopped into the restroom (which I should've used at the mall) as they wanted 10 pisos for the honor of using a very short stall with no paper. Then we boarded our very CHEAP, but no AC bus. It wasn't very full so we stationed ourselves at the back, each in our own row next to an open window. I was still terribly fearful of this ride turning out to be 6 hours, but the bus driver told us 3. It turned out to be 3.5, so still better than expected and my bladder and I somehow made it just fine. Likely from being dehydrated and hot the whole time haha. Several people would get on the bus selling wares while we were still in Cebu. We bought cold water from one person for 15 pisos, but other than that, the Mcdonalds held us over.
As our stop was coming up, we both watched our approach on Google Maps wondering if the bus driver would truly remember after 3.5 hours where to drop us off... He didn't haha. And I didn't know how to ask to stop so as we passed the sign for our hotel, I hopped up and yelled STOP. It worked! haha but was definitely NOT how the locals do it. (I still don't know the secret.) It was a huge relief to get off the hot bus and an even bigger relief to have a nice clean bathroom at our hotel. YAY! I made it! (this bus ride was probably the biggest stress of the entire trip for me) haha
The relaxing pool area at our hotel that greeted us at checkin
We got in right around 5 but were pretty pooped from the walking with our packs, HOT day, and all the traveling. So we took it easy and lounged around the fantastic resort we had, even trying some of their food. (I got fried chicken which was pretty decent, if not quite filling.) Our resort was right on the water but on the wrong side of Cebu for stellar sunsets... either way the lighting was nice and we enjoyed the views while it gradually got darker.
Water front property with killer sunsets and even better sun rises.
Day 4 Costs:
Shuttle back to Airport: $2.90
Flight from Coron to Cebu: $43.75 pp
Taxi from Cebu airport to Fort San Pedro: $6.30
Fort San Pedro Admission: $0.60
Snacks/water from 7/11: $1.50
McDonald's lunch: $3.90
Water on bus ride: $0.30
Bus ride to Oslob: $2.60
Dinner at hotel: $2.90
Lodging:
Sascha's Resort Oslob: $9.50 pp