MAGELLAN’S CROSS - #270110
Cebu City
MAGELLAN’S CROSS is a Christian cross planted by Portuguese, and Spanish explorers as
ordered by Ferdinand Magellan upon arriving in Cebu in the Philippines on March
31, 1521. This cross is housed in a
chapel next to the Basilica Minore del Santo Niňo on Magallanes Street
(Magallanes being the Spanish name of Magellan), just in front of the city
center of Cebu City. A sign below the
cross describes the original cross is encased inside the wooden cross that is
found in the center of the chapel. This
is to protect the original cross from the people who chipped away parts of the
cross fro souvenir purposes or in the belief that cross possesses miraculous
powers. Some people, however, believe
that the original cross had been destroyed or had disappeared after Magellan’s
death, and the cross is a replica that was planted there by the Spaniards after
they successfully colonized the Philippines. (Ceiling and Walls)
