TOP 5 MOST BEAUTIFUL CHURCHES IN CEBU CITY

 Cebu is home to some of the most remarkable and historic churches. The churches of Cebu attract thousands of tourists and devotees every year.

Here is the LIST of the TOP 5 MOST BEAUTIFUL CHURCHES IN CEBU CITY

1. Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral

Location: 6000 Mabini St, Cebu City, Cebu

The Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral, officially known as The Metropolitan Cathedral and Parish of Saint Vitalis and of the Immaculate Conception, is the ecclesiastical seat of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Cebu in Cebu, Philippines. Cebu was established as a diocese on August 14, 1595. It was elevated as a metropolitan archdiocese on April 28, 1934, with the dioceses of Dumaguete, Maasin, Tagbilaran, and Talibon as suffragans. Before being raised as a primatial church in Cebu, the church was one of the first churches in the Philippines dedicated to St. Vitalis and built near the fort in April 1565 by Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, Fray Andrés de Urdaneta and Fray Diego de Herrera. Construction of the cathedral took many years due to frequent interruptions, brought about by lack of funds and other unexpected events. At one time, funds meant for the building of the cathedral were diverted to the Moro wars. The death of an incumbent bishop who spearheaded the construction/reconstruction and vacancies in the office were also factors.

2. Basilica Minore del Santo Niño de Cebu

Location: Pilgrim’s Center, Osmeña Blvd, Cebu City, Cebu

The Basílica Menor del Santo Niño de Cebú, commonly known as Santo Niño Basilica, is a minor basilica in Cebu City in the Philippines that was founded in the 1565 by Fray Andrés de Urdaneta, O.S.A. and Fray Diego de Herrera, O.S.A.. The oldest Roman Catholic church in the country, it is built on the spot where the image of the Santo Niño de Cebú was found during the expedition of Miguel López de Legazpi. The icon, a statuette of the Child Jesus, is the same one presented by Ferdinand Magellan to the chief consort of Rajah Humabon upon the royal couple's christening on April 14, 1521. It was found by a soldier named Juan de Camuz forty years later, preserved in a wooden box, after Legazpi had razed a local village. When Pope Paul VI made the church a basilica in 1965, he declared it to be "the symbol of the birth and growth of Christianity in the Philippines." The present building, which was completed from 1739–1740, has been designated by the Holy See as the "Mother and Head of all Churches in the Philippines".

3. Chapel of San Pedro Calungsod

Location: Church Ave., SM Seaside Complex, Cebu City, Cebu

Pedro Calungsod (Spanish: Pedro Calúñgsod or archaically Pedro Calonsor; mid-1650s  – April 2, 1672), also known as Peter Calungsod and Pedro Calonsor, was a Catholic Filipino migrant, sacristan and missionary catechist who, along with the Spanish Jesuit missionary Diego Luis de San Vitores, suffered religious persecution and martyrdom in Guam for their missionary work in 1672. 

While in Guam, Calungsod preached Christianity to the Chamorro people through catechesis, while baptizing infants, children and adults at the risk and expense of being persecuted and eventually murdered. Through Calungsod and San Vitores's missionary efforts, many native Chamorros converted to Roman Catholicism.

Calungsod was beatified on March 5, 2000, by Pope John Paul II, and canonized by Pope Benedict XVI at Saint Peter's Basilica in Vatican City on October 21, 2012.

4. Redemptorist Church - Cebu City

Location: Queen's Rd, Cebu City, 6000 Cebu

It is known as the Congregation of Our Mother of Perpetual Help Church. The old Chapel and Monastery was blessed and occupied on the 2nd of August 1929. It was built under the direction of Fr. William Byrne, CSsR. The Church was built with the help of the donations of parishioners and was open for mass in the Christmas of 1949. It is located at Queen’s Road, Cebu City.

5.  Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Parish

Location: 15 N Escario St, Cebu City, 6000 Cebu

The church was built on the initiative of Fr. Paul Vella, between 1877–1881, and six months after its completion in November 1881 it was handed over to the Maltese Province of the Friars Minor. The provincial superior at the time was Fr. Anton M. Cesal, who appointed Fr. Aegidius Portelli as its rector.

In 1930 the church was enlarged to handle the increased population. It was built in a Roman-Ionic style, with gilded sculptures and decorative paintings. The dome is decorated with paintings of different Franciscan saints, and the ceiling depicts joyful episodes from the life of the Virgin Mary. The altar has five paintings by the Maltese artist Giuseppe Calì, one of which is his masterpiece representing St Gerome half naked in the grotto in Bethlehem. The statue of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart was made in 1879 by the Maltese artist Girolamo Darmanin and brought into the church on 26 June 1881, the day the church was consecrated and opened for worship.

During World War II, the church was heavily damaged and the Franciscan friary was completely destroyed. A Franciscan Father and 22 others died buried under the rubble. Through the years, Devotion to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart spread rapidly throughout Malta. A perpetual novena is held every Wednesday in honour of the Virgin Mary. The feast day is celebrated on the first Sunday of July, with liturgical services, a procession of the statue around the decorated streets of the parish, outdoor festivities and fireworks