On May 29, 2009 six museums in downtown Cebu City — Museo Sugbo, Casa Gorordo, Yap-Sandiego House, Cathedral Museum of Cebu, Basilica Minore del Sto. Nino Museum, and Fort San Pedro — will open their doors to the public from 6 pm to 12 midnight for only a single ticket worth P100. For an additional P50, guests can avail of unlimited tartanilla rides in between museums. There will be around five tartanillas that will be stationed at each museum. Continue Reading »

It was almost a year ago when I first stepped inside this Spanish colonial heritage house together with a friend who just came from Manila. My friend and I were just talking about the existence of such a house when we decided to go there and tried to secure on-the-spot permission to go inside of which we were lucky enough to be granted access. Continue Reading »

Entering the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral, one never fails to appreciate the beauty and the massiveness of a musical instrument at the choir loft just right above the foyer near the main entrance. It stands majestically and blends graciously along with the baroque interiors of the cathedral. A liturgical music enthusiast will surely not escape his eyes on this instrument hoping to hear how it produces sound at the singing of the Gloria, the Sanctus, and the Pater Noster. Continue Reading »

Above: A bas-relief depicting the martyrdom of St. Vitalis, the patron saint of the cathedral, flanked on both sides by his sons, the twin martyr saints Protacio and Gervacio. Above is his wife St. Valeria, another martyr.

When the then Diocese of Cebu was about to be elevated into an archdiocese in 1936, then Bishop Gabriel Reyes (who would later become the first archbishop of Cebu) ordered the rehabilitation of the cathedral. The façade was improved while the interiors were renovated. The 19th century main altar retablo was torn down and replaced with a very simple marble altar with three stained glass windows above it. Continue Reading »

Above: The new main altar retablo of the cathedral — grand and majestic!

During the Spanish colonial era, the cathedral of Cebu used to be described as “nothing but a barn.” When plans for expansion and renovation were presented, such a plan was criticized as being too “grandiose” and too “big” for a town of merely a few thousand faithful. Continue Reading »

Above: The main facade of the old Carcel de Cebu, now the Museo Sugbo.

Just along M.J. Cuenco Avenue is an interesting facility that ordinary people perhaps would not expect to house a museum. Surrounded at present by unsightly structures, this facility was once a prison built in 1871 where criminals were incarcerated including the Katipuneros during the revolution against Spain and some guerillas during the Japanese occupation during World War II. Continue Reading »

Above: The imposing Osmeña mausoleum.

It’s filthy, deserted, and surrounded with shanties. Who would ever think that this was the final resting place of some of Cebu’s prominent families? None I guess but the magnificent mausoleums, the marble statues (Carraras for sure), and the very familiar family names resound a grandeur that would give ordinary visitors a hint that surely this was no ordinary cemetery during its heyday. Continue Reading »