Raising Boys

Side trip to the fort February 17, 2006

I have for so long wanted to take pictures of Fort San Pedro, oldest triangular bastion fort of the Philippines, in Cebu City. The opportunity came today at last when my husband and I had to pick something up at a nearby place.

The fort, at present, has been converted into a park and entrance fee is 20 pesos per person. One of the famous historical landmarks in Cebu, the structure is a tourist attraction and is mentioned in Philippine travel brochures.

The fort that stands near the wharf area is not the original structure that was built in 1565 by the Spanish government and completed close to 200 years later or in 1748. By 1968, the original structures of the fort were so obliterated that only the two towers were recognizable. Restoration of the fort was a slow process and restorers had to haul coral stones from under the sea to make the restored fort as close to the original as possible.

Before going inside, my husband and I took pictures of the structure’s facade and the marker in the entrance wall that recalled the first mention of the fort in 1739 by a Spanish official. Inside the fort, stone steps lead to the tower walkway and the observatory roof garden.

Cannons also still line the tower, as in the olden days when Spaniards had to repel pirate raids and attacks by natives hostile to their colonization efforts.