Cebu City History

History

When Ferdinand Magellan sailed into the Port of Cebu on 7 April 1521, an eyewitness account relates that he was already a latecomer: 'Many sailing vessels from Siam, China, and Arabia were docked in the port. The people ate from porcelain wares and used a lot of gold and jewellery…'

He may not have been the first visitor to Cebu, but Magellan brought with him something that nobody else had: missionary zeal. Even his death at the hands of warrior chief Lapu-Lapu on Mactan Island a few weeks later would only afford the natives temporary respite against the incursions of the conquistadors. The arrival of avenging Spaniard Miguel Lopez de Legazpi in 1565 delivered Cebu - and eventually the whole of the Philippines - to Spain and Catholicism. The founding in 1575 of Villa del Santisimo Nombre de Jesús (Village of the Most Holy Name of Jesus) marked Cebu City as the first Spanish settlement in the Philippines, predating Manila by seven years.