Cebu City is the oldest city in the Philippines and the province of Cebu features prominently in the early history of the Philippine Islands. So it’s quite fitting that the Heritage of Cebu Monument was erected in the Parian district of Cebu City to celebrate the historicity of Cebu. The monument was commissioned by the Archdiocese of Cebu and was created by sculptor Eduardo Castrillo starting in 1997. The monument was inaugurated on December 8, 2000.

Photo by Brennan Mercado. (CC-BY-NC-ND-2.0)

Being commissioned by the Catholic Church, the events depicted in the monument have a decidedly religious flavor. Among them is the Christianization of Cebu starting with Rajah Humabon; a depiction of a mass; a procession of the Santo Niño, the patron saint of Cebu; a large cross (possibly Magellan’s Cross); and Pedro Calungsod, the first beatified Cebuano. Add to that the various facades of churches in the background, including the Basilica Menore del Santo Niño. Well, Lapu-Lapu and Pres. Osmeña are also depicted so there is some secular heritage in the monument.

As always, Flickr has plenty of artistic pictures of the monument for your perusal.

Download KML file (for Google Earth)