The Basílica Menor del Santo Niño de Cebú (Minor Basilica of the Holy Child of Cebú), commonly known as Santo Niño Basilica, is a

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its nam ...

Cebu City Cebu City, officially the City of Cebu ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Sugbo; fil, Lungsod ng Cebu; hil, Dakbanwa sang Sugbo), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the Central Visayas region of the Philippines and capital of the Cebu Province. Ac ...

in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

that was founded in 1565 by Fray

Andrés de Urdaneta Andrés de Urdaneta (1508 – June 3, 1568) was a maritime explorer for the Spanish Empire of Basque heritage, who became an Augustinian friar. At the age of seventeen, he accompanied the Loaísa expedition to the Spice Islands where he sp ...

and Fray Diego de Herrera. It is the oldest

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chri ...

in the country, allegedly built on the spot where the image of the

Santo Niño de Cebú The Santo Niño de Cebú is a Roman Catholic title of the Child Jesus associated with a religious image of the Christ Child widely venerated as miraculous by Filipino Catholics. It is the oldest Christian artifact in the Philippines, original ...

was found during the expedition of

Miguel López de Legazpi Miguel López de Legazpi (12 June 1502 – 20 August 1572), also known as '' El Adelantado'' and ''El Viejo'' (The Elder), was a Spaniard who, from the age of 26, lived and built a career in Mexico (then the Viceroyalty of New Spain) and, ...

. This image of the

Child Jesus The Christ Child, also known as Divine Infant, Baby Jesus, Infant Jesus, the Divine Child, Child Jesus, the Holy Child, Santo Niño, and to some as Señor Noemi refers to Jesus Christ from his nativity to age 12. The four canonical gospels, a ...

is the same presented by

Ferdinand Magellan Ferdinand Magellan ( or ; pt, Fernão de Magalhães, ; es, link=no, Fernando de Magallanes, ; 4 February 1480 – 27 April 1521) was a Portuguese explorer. He is best known for having planned and led the 1519 Spanish expedition to the Eas ...

to the chief consort of

Rajah Humabon Rajah Humabon, later baptized as Don Carlos, (died April 27, 1521) was the Rajah of Cebu (an Indianized Philippine polity). Humabon was Rajah at the time of the arrival of Portuguese-born, Spanish explorer Ferdinand Magellan in the Philippines ...

on the occasion of their royal

Baptism Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost ...

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

on 14 April 1521. The image 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 Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City, Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his ...

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 was completed from 1739–1740, and was designated by the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

as the "Mother and Head of all Churches in the Philippines".

History

The church of the Holy Child was founded by Fray

, O.S.A. on 28 April 1565, the day when the image of the Holy Child was found in a partially burned hut. More than a week passed after the rediscovery of the image on 8 May 1565,

Miguel Lopez de Legazpi --> Miguel is a given name and surname, the Portuguese and Spanish form of the Hebrew name Michael. It may refer to: Places *Pedro Miguel, a parish in the municipality of Horta and the island of Faial in the Azores Islands *São Miguel (disambi ...

initiated the founding of the first Spanish settlement in the

. On the spot of the house where the image of the Santo Niño was found, the monastery of the Holy Name of Jesus was constructed. The first church to be built on the site where the image of the Holy Child was found was burned down on November 1, 1566. It was said to be built by Fr. Diego de Herrera using wood and nipa. Fray Pedro Torres, O.S.A. started the construction of a new church in 1605. It was finished in 1626 but was again burned in March 1628. Fray Juan Medina, O.S.A. started the construction of another church in 1628, using stone and bricks, a great innovation at that time. The construction was stopped because the structure was found to be defective.

Present church

On February 29, 1735, Father Provincial Bergaño, Governor-General Fernando Valdes, Bishop Manuel Antonio Decio y Ocampo of Cebu and Fray Juan de Albarran, O.S.A. started the foundations of the present church, using stone. Since the friars did not have the means to complete the church, they enlisted the help of the parishioners of Opon and San Nicolas to contribute materials, while the people of Talisay contributed labor. The lack of chief craftsmen and officers forced Fray Albarran to acquire some knowledge of architecture. The church was finished around 1739. On January 16, 1740, the miraculous image was enthroned in the new Augustinian church. In 1789, the church underwent a renovation. In 1889, Fray Mateo Diez, O.S.A. did another renovation. The original features of the church have been retained except for the windows which he added. In the 1960s, both church and convent underwent a bigger restoration on the occasion of the Fourth Centennial of the Christianization of the country. The face lifting was made with utmost respect for the historical character of the old structure. In 1965, Ildebrando Cardinal Antoniutti, Papal Legate to the Philippines, conferred the church the honorific title Basílica Menor upon the authority of

. As a Minor Basilica, it is given precedence over other churches and other privileges. Philippine President Ferdinand E. Marcos also declared it a National Landmark. The Basilica del Santo Niño remains under the care of the

Augustinian Friars The Order of Saint Augustine, ( la, Ordo Fratrum Sancti Augustini) abbreviated OSA, is a religious mendicant order of the Catholic Church. It was founded in 1244 by bringing together several eremitical groups in the Tuscany region who were fo ...

Pilgrim Center

The devotees kept increasing over the years and could easily fill the Basilica. To accommodate this growing number of devotees who come to hear mass in the Basilica, a pilgrim center was built within the church compound opposite of the Basilica and Holy Mass is celebrated on Fridays and other Religious Festivities are held here in the open-air, theater-like structure. Completed in September 1990, this open-air structure can accommodate 3,500 people. The basement of the Pilgrim's Center houses the Basilica Del Sto. Niño Museum.

2013 Bohol earthquake

On October 15, 2013, at approximately 8am GMT+8, a 7.2-magnitude earthquake shook

Tagbilaran, Bohol Tagbilaran, officially the City of Tagbilaran ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Tagbilaran), is a 3rd class Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, component city and capital of the Provinces of the Philippines, province of Bohol, Philippines. According ...

, its force felt throughout the

Visayas The Visayas ( ), or the Visayan Islands ( Visayan: ''Kabisay-an'', ; tl, Kabisayaan ), are one of the three principal geographical divisions of the Philippines, along with Luzon and Mindanao. Located in the central part of the archipelago, ...

. It caused more than 120 casualties, and much damage to buildings, historical landmarks and churches. The earthquake destroyed most of the Basilica's belfry and

façade A façade () (also written facade) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loan word from the French (), which means ' frontage' or ' face'. In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important aspect ...

; some walls and

fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plast ...

es were cracked. A video of the collapse can be see
here
The restoration of the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño de Cebu was one of the 16 projects facilitated by NHCP in Cebu province in 2015. The bell tower is now fully reconstructed and the main door of the church as well as the area in between the original church and the pilgrim center is now fully accessible.

Museum

The museum was first established in the year 1965 by Fr. Ambrosio Galindez, O.S.A. for the purpose of the commemoration of the Fourth Centennial of the Christianization of the Philippines. It was then located at a certain room in the convent. Old church documents dating back to the 17th century, antique church furniture, antique church things (i.e. Chalice, Altar Table, Thurible, etc.), and antique vestments of the priests are in display. The old vestments of the Sto. Niño de Cebu dating back to the 17th century are also in display. The relics and statues of the different saints are also in exhibit. The replicas of the Sto. Niño used in different pilgrimages in the Philippines and abroad are displayed. Some donated jewelleries and gift toys to the Sto. Niño are in display also. The Basilica del Sto. Niño Museum is currently located at the basement of the Pilgrim Center.

Basilica del Santo Niño Library

Originally for exclusive use by the friars, in the year 2000 the church library was opened to all serious nonclerical researchers. Its collection covers religious subjects and non-religious disciplines including history, science, philosophy,

Filipiniana Filipiniana, or originally Filipiñana, based on the definition by Isagani Medina from "Collection Building: Filipiniana", in his ''In Developing Special Library Collections, Filipiniana: Proceedings'' (November 1992), are Philippine-related bo ...

, and periodicals.

Designation

The Church and Convent of Santo Niño was declared a National Historical Landmark in 1941. In 1965,

declared the basilica to be "the symbol of the birth and growth of Christianity in the Philippines." In his pontificate, the ecclesiastical document ''Ut Clarificetur'' designated the basilica as the "Mother and Head of all Churches in the Philippines" (''Mater et Caput... Omnium Ecclesiarum Insularum Philippinarum''). The

National Museum of the Philippines The National Museum of the Philippines ( fil, Pambansang Museo ng Pilipinas}) is an umbrella government organization that oversees a number of national museums in the Philippines including ethnographic, anthropological, archaeological, and vis ...

collectively declared the Church and Convent of Santo Niño and the Magellan's Cross Pavilion as a

National Cultural Treasure National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

Location

The Basílica Menor del Santo Niño de Cebu Basilica Complex is located in city block bordered by Osmeña Boulevard, D. Jakosalem St, P. Burgos St. and the Plaza Sugbo where the

Magellan's Cross Magellan's Cross Pavilion is a stone kiosk in Cebu City, Philippines. The structure is situated on Plaza Sugbo beside the Basilica del Santo Niño It houses a Christian cross that was planted by explorers of the Spanish expedition of the first ...

is located. The main entrance is on Osmeña Boulevard. Two blocks north of the basilica is the

Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral The Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral, officially known as the Metropolitan Cathedral and Parish of Saint Vitalis and of the Immaculate Conception (dedicated to Mary, mother of Jesus, Mary, under her title, Immaculate Conception, Our Lady of the Immacula ...

, the seat of the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cebu The Archdiocese of Cebu (more formally the Archdiocese of the Most Holy Name of Jesus in Cebu; ; ; ; ) is a Roman Rite archdiocese of the Catholic Church in the Philippines and one of the ecclesiastical provinces of the Catholic Church in the cou ...

Gallery

File:Interior of the Basilica del Santo Niño.jpg, Interior of the Basilica del Santo Niño File:Santo Niño Church and Convent Ceiling Cebu City.JPG, The frescoes on the ceiling of the Basilica File:Inside the Basilica..jpg, Inside the Basilica File:Candle Lighting for Prayer at Sto. Nino Church, Cebu Philippines.jpg, Candle lighting for prayer at the Sto. Niño Church File:Pilgrim Center Mass of the Santo Niño de Cebu.jpg, Mass celebrated at the Pilgrim Center in front of the Basilica File:Basilica of the Holy Child after 2013 Bohol earthquake.jpg, After the

2013 Bohol earthquake The 2013 Bohol earthquake occurred on October 15 at in Bohol, an island province located in Central Visayas, Philippines. The magnitude of the earthquake was recorded at 7.2, with epicenter of Sagbayan, and its depth of focus was . It aff ...

References

External links

Official Website of the Basílica Minore del Santo Niño de Cebu

The Augustinians in the Philippines

The image of the Santo Niño, which is kept in the parish convent, is considered the oldest religious relic in the Philippines
{{DEFAULTSORT:Basilica del Santo Nino Santo Nino Buildings and structures in Cebu City Basilica del Santo Nino Roman Catholic churches in Cebu National Historical Landmarks of the Philippines Spanish Colonial architecture in the Philippines Baroque architecture in the Philippines Tourist attractions in Cebu City 1565 establishments in the Philippines National Cultural Treasures of the Philippines Churches in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cebu