Sights in The Visayas
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Fort San Pedro
Built in 1565 by Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, conqueror of the Philippines, Fort San Pedro has served as an army garrison, a rebel stronghold, a prison camp and the city zoo. These days, it's retired as a peaceful, walled garden and handsomely crumbling ruin. A perfect retreat from the chaos and madness of downtown Cebu.
reviewed
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A
Casa Gorordo Museum
Downtown, in a quiet residential area, the newly renovated Casa Gorordo Museum is one of the hidden gems of Cebu City. Originally a private home, it was built in the 1850s and purchased by the Gorordos, one of Cebu’s leading families. The lower part of the house has walls of Mactan coral stone, which makes it deliciously cool in the middle of the day. The stunning upper-storey living quarters are pure Philippine hardwood, held together not with nails but with wooden pegs. As well as having Spanish and native influences, the house incorporates principles of feng shui, owing to the Chinese ancestry of Gorordo matriarch Donna Telerafora (whose death portrait graces the hallw…
reviewed
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B
Basilica Minore del Santo Niño
This holiest of churches is a real survivor. Built in 1565 and burnt down three times, it was rebuilt in its present form in 1737. Perhaps it owes its incendiary past to the perennial bonfire of candles in its courtyard, stoked by an endless procession of pilgrims and other worshippers. The object of their veneration is a Flemish image of the infant Jesus, sequestered in a chapel to the left of the altar.
It dates back to Magellan's time and is said to be miraculous (which it probably had to be to survive all those fires). Don't forget to look up and admire the heavenly ceiling murals while you're here. Every year, the image is the centrepiece of Cebu's largest annual ev…
reviewed
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Olango Island Wildlife Sanctuary
The Olango Island Wildlife Sanctuary takes in 1030 hectares of sand flats and mangroves on Olango’s southern shores. This is a vital refuelling depot for around 50,000 birds of 47 species (including the endangered Chinese egret Egretta eulophotes and Asiatic dowitcher Limnodromus semipalmatus) on the east-Asian migratory route to Australia. The birds, which prefer Olango to neighbouring islands because of the abundant food and ideal nesting sites, arrive in late September and leave in early March, but the best time for twitchers is between November and February. Tragically, you may also encounter organised hunting parties, which are imperilling shorebird populations.
reviewed
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Tops Lookout
Mt Busay makes a mighty backdrop for Cebu City, but the best view is from the mountain itself, which is where you'll find Tops Lookout. Better known simply as 'Tops', this modernist, fortresslike viewing deck provides spectacular views, especially at sunrise or sunset. There are snack stalls up here, which sell beer if you are so inclined.
Many Lahug jeepneys get within about 500m (1640ft) of the lookout (take one on Osmeña Blvd, north of Del Rosario - you may have to change at Cebu Plaza Hotel - and ask for a jeepney to Tops), from where it's a steep, winding road to the top. If you choose to catch a taxi, you will probably have to pay the driver's admission too.
reviewed
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Jumalon Butterfly Sanctuary
One of the first places Cebu residents will take visiting relatives is the Jumalon Butterfly Sanctuary, west of the downtown area. It’s hardly a place you’d expect butterflies to hang around, but hang around they do – from branches and leaves all over the garden of Julian Jumalon’s home. You will receive a lecture and tour showing you butterflies in various stages of their life cycle, and butterfly collections and artworks made from damaged butterfly wings – even a presidential portrait! The best time of day for viewing is the morning, and the best time of year is from June to February, when the butterflies are breeding. Ring first to make a booking.
reviewed
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Taoist Temple
Perched high in the northern hills overlooking the city, the Taoist Temple is a symbol of the city's large and prosperous ethnic Chinese population. It's not one for temple aficionados; the architecture is functional and austere by Chinese standards. Nevertheless the trip here, past the gated mansions of exclusive Beverly Hills, is a good excuse to see how Cebu's wealthier citizens live, and the views over the city are noteworthy.
To get to the temple take a Lahug or Calunasan jeepney and ask to stop at the Taoist Temple or Beverly Hills (around P5) - you've then got a short walk uphill. Alternatively, take a taxi from uptown for about P80.
reviewed
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Rajah Sikatuna National Park
The Rajah Sikatuna National Park is an immense 9000 hectares of native molave forest and grasslands, kilometres of haphazardly marked trails, more than 100 caves and a dubious camping area (per person P30) that is little more than a sign in a small, cleared zone. With assistance from foreign NGOs, the Philippine government is trying to protect the park from gradual destruction by providing alternative livelihood programs for illegal loggers – it’s potentially prime birdwatching territory and home to tarsiers, flying lemurs, civet cats, monitor lizards and monkeys. The crew at nearby Nuts Huts may be able to suggest walks.
reviewed
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Basilica Minore del Santo Niño
This holiest of churches is a real survivor. Built in 1565 and burnt down three times, it was rebuilt in its present form in 1737. Perhaps it owes its incendiary past to the perennial bonfire of candles in its courtyard, stoked by an endless procession of pilgrims and other worshippers. The object of their veneration is a Flemish image of the infant Jesus, sequestered in a chapel to the left of the altar. It dates back to Magellan’s time and is said to be miraculous (which it probably had to be to survive all those fires). Every year, the image is the centrepiece of Cebu’s largest annual event, the Sinulog festival.
reviewed
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Basilica Minore del Santo Niño
This church is a real survivor. Built in 1565 and burnt down three times, it was rebuilt in its present form in 1737. Perhaps its incendiary past derives from the perennial bonfire of candles in its courtyard, stoked by an endless procession of pilgrims and worshippers in honour of a Flemish image of the infant Jesus, dating back to Magellan's time.
Said to be miraculous (which it probably had to be to survive all those fires), the image is the centrepiece of Cebu's largest annual event, the Sinulog festival.
Don't forget to look up and admire the heavenly ceiling murals while you're here.
reviewed
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Tops Lookout
Tops Lookout, better known simply as ‘Tops’ is located on Mt Busay. This modernist, fortresslike viewing deck provides spectacular views, especially at sunrise or sunset. There are snack stalls up here, and beers sell for P40. Many Lahug jeepneys get within about 500m of the lookout (take one on Pres Osmeña Blvd, north of Del Rosario St – you may have to change at Cebu Plaza Hotel – and ask for a jeepney to Tops), from where it’s a steep, winding road to the top. A taxi will take you there and back for around P900, and you will probably have to pay the driver’s admission, too.
reviewed
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C
Magellan's Cross
Magellan's cross? Wouldn't you be if you'd sailed all the way from Europe only to die in a soggy heap on the island of Mactan? Ferdinand's Catholic legacy, a large wooden cross, is housed in a stone rotunda (built in 1841) across from Cebu City Hall. The crucifix on show here apparently contains a few splinters from a cross Magellan planted on the shores of Cebu in 1521.
A painting on the ceiling of the rotunda shows Magellan erecting the cross (actually, the locals are doing all the work - Magellan's just standing around with his mates).
reviewed
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Magellan's Cross
Magellan's cross? Wouldn't you be if you'd sailed all the way from Europe only to die in a soggy heap on the island of Mactan? Ferdinand's Catholic legacy, a large wooden cross, is housed in a stone rotunda (built in 1841) across from Cebu City Hall. The crucifix apparently contains a few splinters from a cross Magellan planted on Cebu's shores in 1521.
A painting on the ceiling of the rotunda shows Magellan erecting the cross (actually, the locals are doing all the work - Magellan's just standing around with his mates).
reviewed
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Butterfly Sanctuary
It's hardly a place you'd expect butterflies to hang around, but hang around they do - from branches and leaves all over the garden of Julian Jumalon's home. You will receive a lecture and tour showing you butterflies in various stages of their lifecycle, and butterfly collections and artworks made from damaged butterfly wings - even a presidential portrait!
The best time of day for viewing is the morning, and the best time of year is from June to February, when the butterflies are breeding. Ring first to make a booking.
reviewed
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Victorias Milling Company
There’s historic paraphernalia on display at the huge Victorias Milling Company, in the town of Victorias, north of Silay. Victorias was the world’s biggest mill during the ’60s and ’70s and is the site of the Church of St Joseph the Worker, which features a claustrophobically dense liturgical mural by Alfonso Ossorio, a contemporary of Jackson Pollock. Jeepneys run all day to Victorias from Silay (P20, 45 minutes). No shorts, sandals or cameras are allowed at Victorias.
reviewed
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Dizon Ramos Museum
If you’re interested in getting a sense of how the upper-middle class lived in Bacolod in the 1950s, you could go to the oddball Dizon Ramos Museum. Among the artefacts deemed worthy to preserve for posterity are immense collections of naff ceramics, glassware and religious knick-knacks. The real treat is upstairs, where the dining table set for Sunday dinner, phonograph, brown fridge, waterbed and cheesy family photos appear undisturbed since Elvis left the building.
reviewed
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Tarsier Research & Development Center
Just beyond the attractive jungle-fringed town of Corella, near the village of Sikatuna, is the Tarsier Research & Development Center, a tarsier sanctuary open to the general public. This simultaneously crazy and cuddly looking little primate can fit in the palm of your hand yet leap 5m, rotate its head almost 360 degrees, and move its ears in the direction of sound, and it has huge imploring eyes, 150 times bigger than a human’s in relation to its body size.
reviewed
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Santo Niño Shrine & Heritage Center
A must is the Santo Niño Shrine & Heritage Center, a palatial guesthouse built to Imelda Marcos’ specifications but never slept in. It houses an extraordinary collection of antiques and objets d’art, and in every room there is a diorama of Imelda in the midst of one beneficial act or another. The centre is sadly underfunded and crumbling almost before your eyes; kept open by a hardy bunch of committed locals, it’s well worth the entry fee for a guided tour.
reviewed
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Negros Museum
The lovingly curated Negros Museum houses displays that focus on the island’s rich history, from Spanish missions to cane plantations and revolution. Dominating the main exhibition hall are the sugar-hauling Iron Dinosaur steam engine and a replica of a batil (cargo boat), laden with bananas, bags of sugar and a few anachronistic items such as San Miguel beer and Tanduay rum. The museum also has a small art gallery and cafe.
reviewed
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Negros Forests & Ecological Foundation
A zoo with a difference, the Negros Forests & Ecological Foundation is a ‘wildlife rescue and captive breeding centre’ that seeks to preserve endangered animals endemic to Negros. Staffed by volunteers, it houses about 15 different species, including deer, wildcats and birds of prey. Now that only 3% of the island’s original forest cover remains, this could well be one of the most precious pieces of land in the Philippines.
reviewed
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D
Carbon Market
No, it’s not a Philippine emissions trading scheme. Urban living in the raw, the Carbon Market is Cebu’s oldest and biggest produce market – where racks of clothes and baskets snuggle cheek-by-jowl with stalls of fish, live chickens, drying intestines and digital media of dubious origin. There’s not a lot to interest tourists, which is why you won’t get harassed by vendors. Most jeepneys heading downtown go to Carbon.
reviewed
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Naomi’s Bottle Museum & Book Club
When global warming eventually catches up with the precarious waterside structures of Moalboal, there is at least one place whose legacy is guaranteed well into the future. Marooned above the dive centres, bars and rampant commerce of Panagsama Beach is Naomi’s Bottle Museum & Book Club, where you can cast off your preloved paperbacks and pluck words of wisdom from a bottle.
reviewed
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E
Fort San Pedro
Built in 1565 by Miguel López de Legazpi, conqueror of the Philippines, Fort San Pedro has served as an army garrison, a rebel stronghold, a prison camp and the city zoo. These days it’s retired as a peaceful, walled garden and handsomely crumbling ruin. It’s a perfect retreat from the chaos and madness of downtown Cebu, especially at sunset. It also has public toilets.
reviewed
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F
Anthropology Museum & Centre for the Study of Philippine Living Culture
The Anthropology Museum & Centre for the Study of Philippine Living Culture has displays including artefacts from Siquijor and ancient Chinese bits and pieces dug up on various Philippine islands. It’s in the central campus area. Enter from Hibbard Ave, the extension of Perdices St, and head to the old building with the staircase at front.
reviewed
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MacArthur Memorabilia Rooms
World War II buffs will want to visit the MacArthur memorabilia rooms on the 2nd floor of the College Assurance Plan (CAP) building. Housed in rooms that MacArthur used in the (now decaying) grandeur of the 1910 Price Mansion, this is a charming mini museum. Ask the watchman downstairs to let you in.
reviewed
