Magellan's Cross Pavilion is a stone kiosk in

Cebu City Cebu City, officially the City of Cebu, is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Central Visayas region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 964,169 people, making ...

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. The structure is situated on Plaza Sugbo beside the

Basilica del Santo Niño The , alternatively known as the Minor Basilica of the Holy Child or simply Santo Niño Basilica, is a minor basilica in Cebu City in the Philippines that was founded in 1565 by Fray Andrés de Urdaneta and Fray Diego de Herrera. It is the olde ...

. It houses a

Christian cross The Christian cross, seen as representing the crucifixion of Jesus, is a religious symbol, symbol of Christianity. It is related to the crucifix, a cross that includes a ''corpus'' (a representation of Jesus' body, usually three-dimensional) a ...

that was planted by explorers of the Spanish expedition of the first

circumnavigation Circumnavigation is the complete navigation around an entire island, continent, or astronomical object, astronomical body (e.g. a planet or natural satellite, moon). This article focuses on the circumnavigation of Earth. The first circumnaviga ...

of the world, led by

Ferdinand Magellan Ferdinand Magellan ( – 27 April 1521) was a Portuguese explorer best known for having planned and led the 1519–22 Spanish expedition to the East Indies. During this expedition, he also discovered the Strait of Magellan, allowing his fl ...

, upon arriving in

Cebu Cebu ( ; ), officially the Province of Cebu (; ), is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, and consists of a main island and 167 surrounding islands and islets. The coastal zone of Cebu is identified as a ...

in the

on April 21, 1521. Along with the

's church and convent buildings, the pavilion is a declared

National Cultural Treasure of the Philippines Declarations of National Cultural Treasures (NCTs; ''Mga Pambansang Yamang Pangkalinangan'' in Filipino language, Filipino) are regulated by the National Cultural Heritage Act. Designations are undertaken by the National Commission for Culture ...

Background

Pavilion

The Magellan's Cross Pavilion which houses the tindalo cross was built sometime in the 1834 under Spanish colonial rule. The structure is octagonal

kiosk Historically, a kiosk () was a small garden pavilion open on some or all sides common in Iran, Persia, the Indian subcontinent, and in the Ottoman Empire from the 13th century onward. Today, several examples of this type of kiosk still exist ...

made of coral stone. The pavilion and the tindalo cross itself sustained cracks due to the 2013 Bohol earthquake. The original cross was also found to have deteriorated due to termites in 2015. The pavilion was closed for renovations and was reopened in March 2016. On the ceiling of the pavilion's interior, is a mural depicting the baptism of

Rajah Humabon Rajah Humabon (also ''Hamabao'' or ''Hamabar'' in other editions of the " First Voyage Around the World") later baptized as Don Carlos Valderrama, was one of the recorded chiefs in historic polity of Cebu who encountered Ferdinand Magellan i ...

and his household by Fr. Pedro Valderrama and the planting of a wooden cross by

. The artwork was done by Jess Roa and Serry M. Josol.

Cross

The Magellan's Cross refers to the original wooden cross planted by explorers of the Spanish expedition of the first

of the world, led by

, upon arriving in

Cebu Island Cebu ( ; ), officially the Province of Cebu (; ), is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, and consists of a main island and 167 surrounding islands and islets. The coastal zone of Cebu is identified as a ...

in the

on April 21, 1521. The original cross was encased inside another wooden cross made of tindalo wood in 1835. This is to protect the original cross from people who chipped away parts of the cross who believe that the cross possesses miraculous powers. The cross was named as the "2021 Jubilee Cross" as part of the

2021 Quincentennial Commemorations in the Philippines The 2021 Quincentennial Commemorations in the Philippines (2021 QCP) was a series of observances organized to mark the 500th anniversary of various events in the Philippines, notably the introduction of Christianity in the Philippines, the role ...

Designation

The pavilion along with the

Church and Convent were collectively declared as a National Cultural Treasure by the

National Museum of the Philippines The National Museum of the Philippines () is an umbrella government organization that oversees a number of national museums in the Philippines, including Ethnography, ethnographic, Anthropology, anthropological, Archaeology, archaeological, an ...

on April 14, 2021.

References

{{Cebu City Catholic Church in the Philippines History of the Philippines (1565–1898) Landmarks in the Philippines Buildings and structures in Cebu City Tourist attractions in Cebu City Memorial crosses 1834 establishments in the Philippines Buildings and structures completed in 1834 19th-century architecture in the Philippines