Philippines

The Basilica Minore del Santo Niño is the oldest Roman Catholic church in the Philippines, founded in 1565 by Spanish missionaries on the spot where Ferdinand Magellan’s expedition gifted a wooden image of the Christ child to the Cebuano queen Hara Humamay in 1521, making it a central site in Cebu City tourism and Cebu City sightseeing. That same image, the Santo Niño de Cebú, survived a fire in 1566 and is enshrined behind glass in the basilica’s main altar today, making it one of the most important places to visit in Cebu City. The current stone church dates to 1740 after earlier wood and bamboo structures were destroyed, and it received its Minor Basilica status from Pope Paul VI in 1965 on the 400th anniversary of Christianisation. The plaza outside becomes the centrepiece of the Sinulog Festival every January, when 1 to 2 million pilgrims fill the streets, making it one of the most vibrant things to do in Cebu City during festival season.

Fort San Pedro is the smallest and oldest tri bastion fort in the Philippines, built in 1738 with earlier wooden versions dating to 1565 under Miguel López de Legazpi to defend the harbour from raiders and pirates, making it a key site in Cebu City tourism and Cebu City sightseeing. The triangular coral stone fort has three bastions named La Concepción facing the sea, Ignacio de Loyola facing south, and San Miguel facing the city, with a small interior courtyard now landscaped as Plaza Independencia, one of the notable places to visit in Cebu City. The fort later served as a Spanish garrison, then an American military camp, then a prison camp under the Japanese during World War II, and even a zoo before being restored as a museum in the 1960s, making it one of the more historically layered top attractions in Cebu City. Allow about one hour for a visit as part of a Cebu City trip.