From the Great Taoist Temple, Grace and I returned to our van which then proceeded, down the hill, to the city proper where we made a stopover at the Basilica Minore del Sto. Nino. Formerly the San Agustin Church, this church was built by Miguel Lopez de Legaspi and Fr. Andres de Urdaneta to house the 30-cm. high image of the Sto. Niño, the statue given by Ferdinand Magellan to Rajah Humabon’s wife and recovered unscathed in a pinewood box by Juan Camus on April 27, 1565. The image is enshrined in a small chapel to the left of the altar.
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| The Basilica Minore del Sto. Nino |
The first church, built with wood and nipa by Fr. Diego de Herrera, was destroyed by fire on November 1, 1566. The second, a stone replacement built by Fr. Pedro Torres from 1605 to 1606, was also burned on March 1628. It was rebuilt soon after, with stone and bricks, by Fr. Juan de Medina but was demolished in 1731 by Fr. Jose Bosqued.
The present stone structure was foundation was started on February 29, 1735 by Fr. Diego Bergano, Gov.-Gen. Fernando Valdez, Bishop Manuel Antonio Decio y Ocampo, continued by Fr. Antonio Lopez and Fr. Francisco Aballe and was completed in 1740 by Fr. Juan de Albarran. It was restored and reinforced in 1782 and slightly restored in 1889 by Fr. Mateo Diez who added the windows. Both church and convent were restored in 1965 on occasion of the fourth centennial of the Christianization of the country. The side retablos, the old organ and some portions of the monastery were removed. On April 28, 1965, the 400th year of Cebu’s Christianization, it was conferred the title of Basilica Minore del Sto. Niño by Hildebrando Cardinal Antoniutti, papal legate of Pope Paul VI. It is now a National Landmark.
The church has an imposing, solid facade blending Muslim, Romanesque and Neo-Classical features. It is divided into 2 levels with shallow pilasters dividing each storey into 3 segments. The graceful Muslim-inspired trefoil arched main entrance is flanked by shallow, rectangular, statued niches, above which are the semicircular arched windows of the second level. It is crowned by a double-edged triangular pediment. The Baroque-style bell tower has 2 alternatingly shaped blind and open windows ending up in triangular pinnacles with a circular disc. It is crowned by balusters and a Muslim-influenced dome. The convent, finished in 1769, is located on the opposite far end.