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Inside the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño

I ended my second trip in Cebu City by visiting the shrine of the most venerated image in the island, which is the image of the Santo Niño de Cebu. I only got the chance to take photos outside of the Minor Basilica of Santo Niño in my first visit to Cebu. This time, I ensured that I will get photos inside the basilica.

The Minor Basilica of Santo Niño is just few meters away from Cebu Cathedral Museum. That’s why I didn’t hail a taxi or a pedicab to reach the basilica. The image of the Santo Niño inside the basilica was a gift by Magellan to the newly-baptized Queen Juana of Sugbu (Cebu). The image was then recovered by the Spanish mariner John de Camus during the expedition of Miguel Lopez de Legazpi.
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Basilica Minore del Santo Nino
Basilica Minore del Santo Niño

I was not surprised to see a large number of people inside the basilica. The Minor Basilica of Santo Niño always has more visitors than the nearby Cebu Cathedral. Many people flock the basilica just to say their prayers to Santo Niño.

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Altar of Basilica Minore del Santo Nino

The image of Santo Niño de Cebu is not located at the altar but has a separate room near the back of the basilica. I also joined the queue just to have a glimpse of the Santo Niño and say my little prayers to him. I didn’t take any photos of the Santo Niño de Cebu out of courtesy.
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Ceiling of Basilica Minore del Santo Nino

The ceiling of Minor Basilica of Santo Niño depicts various events in the Bible like creation of the Universe and the laying out of the Ten Commandments on a stone tablet. What caught my interest is the painting shows the visit of Magellan in Cebu. The painting depicts historical events like the conversion of Rajah Humabon and his wife Humamay, the first Holy Mass in Cebu and the erection of Magellan’s cross.
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Zoom in of ceiling of Basilica Minore del Santo Nino

The Minor Basilica of Santo Niño is run by Augustinians and the proof it is this:
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Saint Augustine in Basilica Minore del Santo Nino

You can read what is being depicted by this scene in my post about Saint Augustine.

Another interesting area inside the ground of Minor Basilica of Santo Niño is the bas-relief at the wall near the candle area. The relief tells the history of the basilica like the discovery of the image of Santo Niño de Cebu by John de Camus.
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Bas-relief, Basilica Minore del Santo Nino
Recovery of Santo Niño by John de Camus.

I ended my visit to Minor Basilica of Santo Niño by visiting the nearby monument for Magellan’s Cross.

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Magellan's Cross, Cebu City, Philippines

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10 comments:

  1. Mukhang ang dami mong nabisita sa Cebu ah! Thanks for sharing photos! Nung nadyan kami nung december di kami nakapag city tour man lang.

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  2. Madami po talaga akong napntahan sa Cebu Ate Anney.

    Sa bawat byahe ko po ay sinisigurado ko na nakakapag-tour ako sa lugar na pinuntahan ko.

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  3. Oooooo...the 2nd pic! Stunning!!!

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  4. Wooowww nice naman! Bakit may ibang church ba na bawal kumuha ng picture? By the way... are you using DSLR? ganda ng shots mo kuya ish! :D

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  5. May God always Bless you and more Byahe's to come

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  6. Suitapui

    Thank you very much!

    Tine

    Hindi naman sa bawal pero nahihiya lang ako kumuha ng picture minsan. Uy, hindi DSLR yang gamit ko. Simpleng digital camera lang. Wala akong pambili ng DSLR.

    Kiko

    Maraming salamat po. :-)

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  7. Very nice piece, hope I get to see it. I also wrote about the Sto. Nino though I never visited this shrine. Would appreciate your opinion about it. The link is http://paranaquephilippines.blogspot.com/

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  8. Hello Monisima.

    Thank you for visiting my blog. I hope that you can visit the Basilica in the future.

    I will take a look at your blog and I might drop a comment.

    God bless you.

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  9. This is the first historical church in Cebu.

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    Replies
    1. Yay. And I'm very happy that I was able to visit it.

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