Impressive Wonders of Cebu City Day Tour

Cebu is known as home of the best guitar craftsmen in the Philippines. Not only are the guitars delicately crafted, they are exceptionally durable, affordable, and of great quality. One of the remarkable guitar-makers in Cebu is the Alegre Guitar Factory. The shop is owned and managed by Fernando M. Alegre. Its world-class guitars never cease to impress seasoned guitarists and musicians. The Alegre family is one of the pioneers in the guitar-manufacturing business, which is on its third generation of proprietorship. The shop exports their guitars to countries like Canada, Australia, Japan, and the United States. Visitors, who are interested in the different stages of guitar-making, can take a look at the workshop to witness the craftsmen do the actual guitar-making process.

Temple of Leah is Teodorico Soriano Adarna’s gesture of love to his late wife Leah Albino-Adarna, a life partner for 53 years. They are the grandparents of Filipina actress Ellen Adarna and owner of motel chain Queensland in Cebu. Tucked in Cebu City’s highland barangay of Busay, construction of Temple of Leah started in 2012 and expected to be finished by 2020. The temple is reportedly made up of 24 chambers that house an art gallery, museum, library and bar, among others, and adorned with life-sized statues of Roman gladiators, lions and angels all over. A wide stone steps give everyone a free access to the portico and towards the lobby where a brass 10-foot statue of Leah is erected. The commemorative plaque on the base of the statue reads: “Beloved Wife and Mother: Leah V. Albino-Adarna was chosen Matron Queen of her Alma Mater the University of Southern Philippines. This bronze statue portrays her composure and regal bearing when she was crowned. May the beholder discern her innate beauty, poise and gentleness.”

The Casa Gorordo Museum was originally a two-storey house built in the mid-19th century in the historic Parian district of Cebu City. During the Spanish colonial era, the Parian district was the most prestigious section of the city and home to its most prominent families. The house was built by Alejandro Reynes y Rosales and was later bought in 1863 by a Spanish merchant, Juan Isidro de Gorordo. Four generations of the Gorordo family resided in the house from 1863 to 1979. Among its residents was Juan Gorordo, the first native Cebuano bishop of Cebu. Casa Gorordo Museum is a popular tourist attraction in Cebu City and is visited by thousands of local and foreign tourists every year.

Cebu City, officially the City of Cebu, is a 1st class highly urbanized city of the island of Cebu in the Central Visayas Region, Philippines. It is the regional center of Central Visayas and is the seat of government for the province of Cebu, but is governed separately from it. The city is a significant center of commerce, trade, and education in Visayas. It is the Philippines' main domestic shipping port and is home to about 80% of the country's domestic shipping companies.

The 'Cebu Cathedral', as it is popularly called, is the ecclesiastical seat of metro Cebu Archdiocese in the Philippines. Typical of Spanish colonial church architecture in the country is the squat and with thick walls to withstand typhoons and other calamities. According to "Balaanong Bahandi", the cathedral is a Baroque-Rococo style. Resil Mojares, Cebu historian, said that was generally finished only in 1786 but was in ruined in 1829. The construction of the cathedral had frequent interruptions prolonging its completion which is typical among huge structures, especially churches. One time, the funds allocated for the building were diverted to fight against moros. Another event that disrupted the construction was the death of the bishop who spearheaded the construction. Much of the cathedral has been destroyed by the Allied bombings of the city during the Second World War. However, under the supervision of Jose Maria Zaragosa, an architect, the whole church has been quickly restored, which occurred during Archbishop Gabriel Reyes' incumbency.

Cebu Taoist Temple is a Taoist temple located in Beverly Hills Subdivision of Cebu City, Philippines. The temple is built by Cebu's substantial Chinese community in 1972. With an elevation of 110 meters above sea level, the temple is a towering, multi-tiered, multi-hued attraction accessible by three separate winding routes.

Fort San Pedro (Fuerte de San Pedro) is a military defense structure in Cebu (Philippines), built by the Spanish under the command of Miguel López de Legazpi, the first governor of the Captaincy General of the Philippines. It is located in the area now called Plaza Independencia, in the pier area of the city. The original fort was made of wood and built after the arrival of Legazpi and his expedition. In the early 17th century a stone fort was built to repel Muslim raiders. Today's structure dates from 1738 and is the oldest triangular bastion fort in the country. It served as the nucleus of the first Spanish settlement in the Philippines. During the Philippine Revolution at the end of the 19th century, it was attacked and taken by Filipino revolutionaries, who used it as a stronghold.

The Mactan Shrine, located on Mactan Island, just of the coast from Cebu City, is a must-see for everyone interested in Filipino history. It commemorates the Battle of Mactan that took place in 1521 between the Spanish and the Visayan (central Philippines) native people in April 1521 and, along with paintings and plaques about that battle, it also contains two other important shrines -- the Lapu Lapu Shrine and the Magellan Shrine. The Lapu Lapu shrine is a 20 meter (65.5 feet) high, bronze statue of Lapu Lapu (circa 1491-1547 AD), the Filipino warrior king who commanded the native forces that fought the invading Spanish forces in the Battle of Mactan in 1521 and killed their leader, the navigator Ferdinand Magellan. The Lapu Lapu statue is said to be on the exact spot where the battle was fought and where Magellan was killed.

Magellan's Cross is a Christian cross planted by Portuguese and Spanish explorers as ordered by Ferdinand Magellan upon arriving in Cebu in the Philippines on (depending on the source) 16 (U.S. date) or 17(Philippines date) March 1521. This cross is housed in a chapel next to the Basilica Menor del Santo Niño on Magallanes Street, just in front of the city center of Cebu City. A sign below the cross states that the original cross is encased inside the wooden cross made of tindalo wood. This is to protect the original cross from people who chipped away parts of the cross for souvenir purposes in the belief that the cross possesses miraculous powers. Some people, however, believe that the original cross has been destroyed or disappeared after Magellan's death and the cross is a replica that was planted there by the Spaniards after they successfully christianized the Philippines.

A stay at the Queen City of the South is incomplete without a Taboan Market visit. Taboan Market, considered to be Cebu’s ultimate pasalubong center and local market is one of the busiest and most crowded market in Cebu City. Because of its famous danggit (dried fish), dried squid, shredded squid, among others is one of the reasons why Taboan Market is a must-visit for the travellers. Dried seafood are not the only goods you can buy at Taboan, you can also choose from the wide array of Cebuano delicacies for pasalubongs to your loved ones.

The Basílica Menor del Santo Niño de Cebú (Minor Basilica of the Holy Child of Cebú), commonly known as Santo Niño Basilica, is a minor basilica in Cebu City in the Philippines that was founded in 1565 by Fray Andrés de Urdaneta, O.S.A. and Fray Diego de Herrera, O.S.A. The oldest Roman Catholic church in the country, it is built on the spot where the image of the Santo Niño de Cebú was found during the expedition of Miguel López de Legazpi. The icon, a statuette of the Child Jesus, is the same one presented by Ferdinand Magellan to the chief consort of Rajah Humabon upon the royal couple's christening on April 14, 1521. It was found by a soldier named Juan de Camuz forty years later, preserved in a wooden box, after Legazpi had razed a local village. When Pope Paul VI made the church a basilica in 1965, he declared it to be "the symbol of the birth and growth of Christianity in the Philippines."