When Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, working for the crown of Spain, arrived in Cebu in 1521, he was warmly received by the chieftain of Cebu, Rajah Humabon, his wife Queen Juana, and their subjects. Magellan then persuaded Humabon to form an alliance with Spain. Afterwards, Humabon, his wife and their subjects were baptized into the Roman Catholic faith.
On April 14, 1521, Magellan planted a wooden cross on the shores of Cebu to commemorate the baptism of Humabon, his wife and their subjects, and to signify the establishment of Christianity in the Philippines. The cross that Magellan planted has been known since then as the Magellan’s Cross. Since 1834, the cross and has been housed inside a small chapel or kiosk that is shape like a gazebo and made of adobe and red tiles.
The kiosk is located beside the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño on Magallanes Street and in front of the city hall building of Cebu City. A plaque was placed just above the entrance of the kiosk in 1941.
When you enter inside the kiosk, you will see the Magellan’s Cross situated in the center. The ceiling above the cross has paintings that depict the arrival of Magellan and the planting of the cross, and the baptism of Rajah Humabon, his wife and their subjects.
A sign below the cross states that the original cross is encased inside a cross made of tindalo wood. That was done to protect the original Magellan’s Cross from people who chipped away parts of the cross in the belief that the cross has miraculous powers or for souvenir purposes.
WndlJhn 