After our visit to Basilica Minore del Sto. Nino and Magellan’s Cross, Grace and I returned to our van. We were next transported to Fort San Pedro, the oldest fort in the country. Started on May 8, 1565, this 2,025-sq. m. triangular Spanish fort, situated between the port and Plaza Independencia, was named after Legaspi’s flagship. The current structure, completed in 1738, has 3 bastions: San Miguel, San Ignacio de Loyola and La Concepcion with stone walls 2.5 m. thick and 6 m. high and towers 10 m. high. The fort’s original buildings include the Cuerpo de Guardia (troop’s quarters), the largest building and the Viviendo del Teniente (living quarters of the fort’s lieutenant).
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| Fort San Pedro |
The fort, under the care and administration of the Philippine Tourism Authority, was also an American military barrack, (Warwick Barracks), a schoolhouse during the Commonwealth period, a Japanese POW camp during World War II, a hospital during the liberation, a Philippine Army camp in 1946 and a Lamplighter (a religious sect) mini-zoo in 1957. The fort, including its towers and roof observatory, was restored in 1968 and its inner court (turned into a miniature garden by the Cebu Garden Club after 1950) now has an open-air theater, a cafe in a walled garden and a museum.
Fort San Pedro: Plaza Independencia, Gen. D. MacArthur Blvd., Cebu City 6000, Cebu.