Following the pedestrian path from the Basilia Minore del Santo Nino, is yet another church, the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral. It puzzles me how they can have two big churches so close together, though this won’t be the first time I would see something like this in the Philippines. I have seen two Catholic churches right next to each other elsewhere. I guess there are just too many faithful to fit in one church, and these churches in Cebu are not even ordinary churches, one is a Basilica and the other is a Cathedral.
Interestingly enough, the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral is actually quite old, it was built in the late 1600s and has been rebuilt several times due to natural and man-made calamities, most frequently, typhoons. The last time the cathedral was destroyed was during World War II when the United States bombed lights out of Philippines. Inside, the walls are extra thick to protect the structure from the elements and it is now the seat of the archdiocese of Cebu, it oversees the dioceses in the neighboring provinces of Bohol, Leyte and Negros.
Befitting a Cathedral, the interiors are very nice and well maintained. It was as if the church just opened a few days ago. I guess much of the original structure was already lost because of the countless calamities that have befallen this church. It now sports a more modern interior in contrast to the lavish and more classical interiors of the nearby Basilica Minore del Santo Nino.
At the time I visited, there was a celebration of Holy Mass so I didn’t get to take as many photos as I wanted lest I be publicly scolded by the officiating priest. Nearby the Cathedral is the Archbishop’s palace, nothing really noteworthy there. I was running out of time and I needed to get to my next destination as soon as possible. Overall, it was a short but very fulfilling trip I had in Cebu. I didn’t realize how different it is from Manila, someday I would like to give this historic province more time to explore.
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