Magellan’s Cross is both a popular tourist attraction as well as a much-loved symbol of the origins of Catholic Christianity in the Philippines. It is placed in a chapel just beside the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño in Cebu, Philippines. The basilica can be found in Magallanes Street just across the city hall of Cebu City. Magallanes is the Spanish name of Magellan.

The cross is planted on the orders of Magellan upon arriving in Cebu on April 21, 1521. When he and his crews landed on Cebu island, a native chief, Rajah Humabon, met and befriended him. Rajah Humabon, his wife and hundreds of his native warriors agreed to accept Christianity and were consequently baptised.

At the foot of the Cross, there’s a sign that reads as below.

This Cross of Tindalo Wood
Encases teh Original Cross Planted
By Ferdinand Magellan On This Very Site
April 21, 1521

Apparently, the original cross was encased to protect it from devotees and visitors who chipped away parts of the cross for souvenir purposes or in the belief that the cross possesses miraculous powers. However, some people believe that the original cross has long been destroyed or disappeared after Magellan’s death and what is currently encased is just a replica of what was planted there by the Spaniards.

photo by choui168

In 1941, the commonwealth government of the Philippines placed a plaque outside the chapel signifying the site’s significance in the country’s history. It reads as below.

From time immemorial this spot has been set aside to commemorate the erection
of a cross in Cebu by the expedition of Magellan. When King Humabon of Cebu and his Queen, son, daughters, together with some 800 of their subjects were baptized by Father Pedro Valderrama. This hallowed site was improved in 1735 by Rev. Juan Albarran, prior of San Agustin and in 1834 by Rt. Rev. Santos Gomez Marañon, Bishop of Cebu. The image of the Santo Niño found by the expedition of Legaspi in a house near the present site of the Cathedral of Cebu is venerated by the faitful in the nearby Church of San Agustin

1941

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