Cebu City, Philippines

Cebu City Description

The City of Cebu is the capital of Cebu in the Philippines and is the second most important metropolitan center in the country. It is the country’s main domestic shipping hub and is home to more than 80% of the country’s inter-island shipping companies. Cebu is also the main hub, outside of the capital, of international flights into the country and is the most important center of commerce, trade, and industry in the Visayas and Mindanao, the southern parts of the country. Cebu City is dubbed the Queen City of the South because of these important functions the city does. According to the official 2000 census, it has a population of 718,821 people in 147,600 households. Metro Cebu has a total population of more than 2 million people.

Cebu City Attractions

Cebu City is almost like Metro Manila because of the central trading, shipping business and commerce. However, there are historical and natural wonders you might want to discover and experience here in the Queen of South.

The 485-year-old cross, Magellan’s Cross, is housed in a small chapel next to the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño on Magallanes Street (Magallanes being the Spanish name of Magellan), just in front of the city hall of Cebu City. Magellan’s Cross is a symbol of Cebu City and the chapel’s image can be found in its city seal. It is also seen as the symbol of Roman Catholicism in the Philippines.

Cebu’s oldest Roman Catholic Church, the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño, also still retains the original stone texture and natural color it had in 1735. Its towering facade blends Muslim, Romanesque, and neo-classical architecture, this church of the Señor Santo Niño de Cebu-which translates literally as “holy child of Cebu.” And if you are one of those devoted Roman Catholics, you wouldn’t want to miss seeing this church in your life.

Fort San Pedro is the oldest and smallest fort in the Philippines. Built by the Spaniards to fight off sieges by hostile natives and Muslim pirates, the fort was finished in 1738, some 200 years after it started construction.

The fort at one time or another also became the American Warwick Barracks during the American Regime, got turned into classrooms where Cebuanos received formal education from 1937 to 1941, used as prison camp and fortification for Japanese soldiers during World War II or from 1941 to 1945, served as hospital when battle for liberation was fought, and became an army camp from 1946 to 1950. This place is really amazing by serving a lot of purpose for the Cebuanos.

Cebu City Location

The city lies on the eastern shore of the island of Cebu and is the first Spanish settlement in the country. The Mactan-Cebu International Airport, located in Lapu-Lapu City is only a twenty-minute drive away from Cebu City. Its geographic coordinates are 10°17′0″N, 123°54′0″E. To the northeast of the city are Mandaue City and the town of Consolacion, to the west are Toledo City, the towns of Balamban, and Asturias, to the south are Talisay City and the town of Minglanilla. Across Mactan Strait to the east is Mactan Island where Lapu-Lapu City is located.