Magellan's Cross

 

Magellan's Cross, located in Magellanes Street, is Cebu's most important historical landmark and an important shrine.
 

In 1521 the Portuguese navigator, Ferdinand Magellan, erected the original large wooden cross at this location where Cebu's Rajah Humaton, his wife Juana, and 800 followers were baptised on April 14, 1521 and the first Catholic mass in Cebu (in fact, the first Catholic mass in the Philippines) was celebrated.

The original cross gradually deteriorated as over the years the faithful took little pieces of the cross as mementos. In 1845 another cross was placed at the spot. The new cross was made of tindalo wood and inside a hollow inside splinters of the original Magellan's Cross were preserved.

Today a tiled pavillion shelters the cross and a ceiling mural depicts the scene of the first mass and commemorates the conversion of the first Filipinos to Christianity.