The ramparts
Views over the harbour.
Øyvind Holmstad — CC BY-SA 4.0 · xiquinhosilva — CC BY 2.0 · Philip Nalangan — CC BY 4.0 · Eugene Alvin Villar (seav) — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Eugene Alvin Villar (seav) — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Eugene Alvin Villar (seav) — CC BY-SA 4.0
The oldest triangular bastion fort in the Philippines, a small stone fort on Cebu City's harbour that was the nucleus of the first Spanish settlement in the country. Work began in 1565 on the orders of Miguel López de Legazpi, the first Spanish governor of the Philippines; it was first built of wood, then of stone, and the present structure dates from 1738. The fort has three corner bastions, two sides facing the sea and one the city, with walls six metres high and nearly two and a half metres thick, and most of its cannons are still in place. Filipino revolutionaries captured it at the end of the 19th century and used it as a stronghold. Inside is a small, quiet garden amid the city's noise, and a small museum of documents and objects from the Spanish era. Climb the ramparts to see the harbour and the plaza. The fort is small and an hour is enough; it is usually combined with a walk around old central Cebu. Come late in the day, when the heat eases.
Views over the harbour.
Still on the bastions.
Calm in the city.
Plaza Independencia, port area, Cebu City
It is the oldest triangular bastion fort in the Philippines and was the nucleus of the first Spanish settlement in the country, from 1565. A visit is short and easy from central Cebu.