Cebu – Basilica Minore del Santo Niño

The Philippines is the only country in Asia where the majority of people are Christian. The Basilica Minore del Santo Niño is an excellent example of how this impacts the everyday lives of all Filipinos. In other Asian countries, a mosque or a temple would take the role of the basilica, but nowhere else in Asia have I seen such an enthusiastic embrace of religion.


The basilica was built to house the Santo Niño. When Magellan came to Cebu, he managed to convert the local rulers. In return, he presented them with the icon of the Santo Niño, or holy child. This is basically a small image of the baby Jesus, which looks exactly like the baby Jesus of Prague. After a few wars and general misadventures, the baby Jesus was lost. That is, until it was dug up and found intact inside a box. The basilica was built over the top of the spot where the Jesus was found.

The Santo Niño is revered by all residents of Cebu. You see it everywhere in the city. All the taxi drivers have a little copy of it sitting on their dashboard. There’s also a million copies for sale all over the city. It’s supposed to have supernatural powers. One story goes, that the figure slips out in the middle of the night and goes for a walk. People have allegedly found the figure’s clothes covered in grass stains in the morning.


Whether you believe the stories or not, the basilica is certainly a grand building. Inside, the layout is a bit atypical for a basilica. The main church hall is a long wide hall, with the icons at the end of the hall.


I was there about lunch time on a Monday and the place was heaving with people. There was no service being held, people were just popping in to pray. They were very active prayers as well. They weren’t just sitting quietly praying to themselves. There was a whole lot of head touching, crossing of arms, dabbing of holy water etc. It was very frenetic!

It’s a great place to visit to see the Filipinos religion in action. It’s also a great place to get out of the heat!