BASILICA MINORE DEL STO. NIÑO

One of the oldest churches in the Philippines is the Basilica Minore del Sto. Niño.  It is located in Magallanes St. on the east side of downtown area.  A few blocks away from the basilica, you can see one of the most popular historical landmarks of Cebu - the Magellan’s Cross.  It is a large Christian cross that is housed in a small chapel.  The first church was made of hard wood, mud and nipa upon the order of Fr. Diego de Herrera on 1565.  On November 1, 1568, a fire hit the church.  Then, Governor Fernando Valdez y Tamon ordered the reconstruction of the church. It was made of hard-stone materials.  The construction of the church was completed on the year 1739.  The architecture of the façade of this 16th century edifice is a combination of Muslim, Romanesque and neo- classical design.  Augustinian church was the former name of Basilica Minore del Sto. Niño, since it is under the care of Augustinian friars. 

During the fourth centenary of Christianization in the Philippines in 1965, Pope Paul VI, elevated the rank of the church into minor basilica.  This widely known church in the Philippines is the home of the miraculous image of Sr. Sto. Niño, which was said the representation of the miraculous Child Jesus.  Inside the church is a museum where you can see the display of antique wooden chairs that were used centuries ago, a large Sto. Niño rosary, garments of the priests used during holy mass, toys that were believed to be a present for the miraculous child, etc.  To accommodate more churchgoers, pilgrims, devotees and tourists, they built a pilgrim center with an open air and theater like design. Every Friday there are numerous parishioners go to Basilica Minore del Sto. Niño, to praise and worship the patron saint.  Outside the church, you can see candle vendors swaying and dancing with numerous candles in their hand whilst doing this they also say their prayers to Sto. Niño.  Cebuanos describe this dance step as “sulog”, which means, “flowing like a water movement”, with a step of two steps forward and one-step backward.  During Sinulog, a huge number of crowds will gather in Basilica Minore del Sto. Niño to hear the holy mass.  Nowadays, many tourists of different nationalities visit the basilica to see the patron saint of Cebu and at the same time be a part of Sinulog festival.  The grandest and most celebrated event in Cebu.

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