Magellan’s Cross, Cebu
Magellan’s Cross is a Christian cross that Ferdinand Magellan (c1480 – 27 April 1521) ordered to be erected in Cebu on 21 April 1521 after the successful baptism of many natives into Christianity.
Ferdinand Magellan was also known as: Fernao Magalhaes or Fernando Magallanes, and was a Portuguese navigator working for the King of Spain.
The cross is housed in a chapel next to the Basilica Minore del Santo Nino on Magallanes Street, just in front of the city center of Cebu City.
The original cross is reputedly encased inside another wooden cross for protection, as people started chipping it away in the belief that it had miraculous healing powers. This prompted the government officials to encase it in tindalo wood and secured it inside a small chapel. www.hawaii.edu/cps/magellancross.html
Some people, however, believe that the original cross had been destroyed or had disappeared after Magellan’s death, and the cross is a replica that was planted there by the Spaniards after they successfully colonized the Philippines.