Cebu

Cebu is a province of the Philippines south of Manila. It's main city, Cebu City, is the 2nd largest city in the country, the provincial center, and former national capital. It was here that Ferdinand Magellan landed during his voyage of circumnavigation. The 1st picture is the Magellan's Cross. While this is not the original, it is a replica, and it is erected on the site where he planted the original in 1521.
Magellan was able to convert the local king and queen to Christianity and have them pledge allegiance to the King of Spain. The 2nd picture is Santo Niño, a small statue of the holy child brought from Spain and presented to the queen on her conversion. That is the original statue, in its own basilica.
The 3rd picture is Fort San Pedro, an early headquarters of the Spanish during their colonial period. It is a small, triangular structure at the ocean side entrance to the city.
The 4th looks over modern Cebu City from a nearby mountain. On the other side of that mountain is a community that for generations has been growing flowers for the Cebu market. One enterprising grower turned part of his gardens into a public park full of flowers and statues. The 5th picture is a look at that garden space. It became a popular place, so, of course, others followed suit, and now there are several of them on the mountain.
On another arm of the mountain is the Temple of Leah in the 6th picture. This was built by a wealthy man as a tribute to his wife. There is a central hall plus 24 rooms filled with her collections.
There is a significant Chinese presence among the population here. As such, there are quite a few Taoist temples in town.
(See other posts). The 7th picture looks at the largest one.
The 8th picture is of a monument that recounts important moments and people in Cebu's history. Rather than the more typical series of several monuments that each separately remember a person or event, this one blends them one after another as you walk around it.
The 9th picture is the Yap-San Diego house that dates to the 17th century. It preserves the typical Spanish colonial house of the time and is filled with many, many artifacts. Many are from the period before the Spanish arrived. The collection also showi the mixed influence of Chinese and Spanish cultures here.Read more