As the cradle of Christianity, Cebu has been a tourist destination and a center of Spanish Culture here in the Philippines. On this Holy Week, everybody is gearing up to join the yearly activity called Visita Iglesia or Seven Churches Visitation . Visita Iglesia is a pious Roman Catholic Lenten tradition by attempting to visit seven churches or religious sites. Traditionally observed on Maundy Thursday, it is commonly practised during any day of the Holy Week.(wikipedia)

Visita Iglesia in Basilica Sto Niño, Credit: HabagatCentral.com

Now, here is the list of amazing and top Churches in Cebu (Cities Only, Provinces are not included) which are recommended to be included for your Visita Iglesia for Holy Week 2014.

7. National Shrine of Saint Joseph in Mandaue City .


The church is greatly renovated. Removed were four large pillars that supported the cupola. These pillars appear in old photographs of the church interior. A statue of St. Joseph and the Child Jesus beside him is in the style of 18th century ivories and may be from Jesuit times. [wikipedia]

photo credit: pinoychurches.wordpress.com


6. The National Shrine of Nuestra Sra. Virgen dela Regla Parish in Lapu-Lapu City (Birhen Sa Regla)


The original church was built during the Spanish times between the years 1735-1744 and was made of Mactan (coral) stone cut in square blocks and was only slightly damaged during the WW II. Unfortunately, the Dutch priests later assigned to the parish bypassed 200 years of history. Instead of repairing the damages, they had the church bulldozed in 1960 and built a totally new one made of plaster and concrete. The walls of the old (Mactan) coral stone church were so solid that, during the architectural massacre, the Dutch priest who ordered to have it demolished was said to have regretted the cultural carnage.

However, there is still a remainder of the old church, as proof of its solidity - the still existing convent built in 1855. It is a beautiful example of the Spanish colonial mission complex and is spacious and solid.

photo and captions credit: colloidfarl.blogspot.com

5. Our Lady of Mt Carmel Chapel/ Carmelite Monastery Chapel (Cebu City)


photo credit: pinoychurches.wordpress.com

4. Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish Church in Guadalupe,Cebu City


photo credit: pinoychurches.wordpress.com

3. The Redemptorist - Our Mother of Perpetual Help Church


photo credit: cssrredemptoristi.com

2. Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral in Cebu City



The Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral is the ecclesiastical seat of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Cebu in Cebu, Philippines. Cebu was established as a diocese on August 14, 1595. It was elevated as a metropolitan archdiocese on April 28, 1934 with the dioceses of Dumaguete, Maasin, Tagbilaran, and Talibon as suffragans. [wikipedia]

photo credit: wanhengkei.blogspot.com

1. Minor Basilica of Sto. Niño de Cebu



The Minor Basilica of the Holy Child, commonly known as Basilica del Santo Niño, is a minor basilica in Cebu City in the Philippines that was founded in the 16th century. It is the oldest Roman Catholic church established in the country, purportedly built on the spot where the image of the Santo Niño de Cebú, a statue depicting the Holy Child Jesus was found in 1565 by Spanish explorers led by Miguel Lopez de Legazpi. The image is the same statue given by Ferdinand Magellan to the wife of Rajah Humabon as a gift over forty years after Humabon's baptism to Christianity on April 14, 1521 [Wikipedia]

photo credit: Allan Jay Quesada