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Region 7: Central Visayas ••• Cebu City •• Downtown Fuerza de San Pedro The walking tour of downtown begins at Fort San Pedro, beside Plaza de Independencia. This triangular fort made of coral blocks traces its origins to the conquistador Miguel Lopez de Legazpi who laid out the plan for a triangular palisade in 1565. Built to protect the emerging Spanish settlement, the fortification symbolized the military presence of Spain, which made the pacification of the islands possible. Bastions project from the three points of the triangle, following standard fortification plans.The date of construction of the stone fort is uncertain. Although there are claims that a Jesuit Antonio Campioni built a stone fort in 1630, and the gate of fort bears the date 1738 together with the arms of Castille and Leon. It is certain, however, that the fort underwent major renovations in the late 1800s as part of a building program to improve Cebu City. The fort became a garrison during World War II, a zoo, and now a park. It was once the office of the Department of Tourism in Cebu, however, the office has been transferred to a nearby site. The fort has a branch of the National Museum with vintage photographs of Cebu and copies of plans of the fort, and archaeological exhibits. Open: Wednesday to Sunday, 9:00 A.M, - 12:00; 1:00 - 5:00P.M. Outside the fort are two monuments one dedicated to Legazpi and the other to Antonio de Pigafetta, the chronicler of Magellan’s expedition. From the walls of the fort, we can see the sea to the south, Plaza de Independencia to the northwest and to the southeast, warehouses, once the site of the Colegio de San Ildefonso (later Seminario de San Carlos), a college began by the Jesuits and transferred to the Dominicans and the Vincentians. The Colegio is the forerunner of San Carlos University, along P. del Rosario St.
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