The Minor Basilica of the Holy Child, commonly known as Basilica del Santo Niño, is the oldest Roman Catholic church established in the country. It was built in 1565 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.
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| Photo by: Reyarl |
The church was originally made of hard wood, mud and nipa. It was destroyed several times by fire. The present building is made of stones quarried from Capiz and Panay by an army of bancas. It was completed in 1740. The facade of the building has a blend of Muslim, Romanesque and neo-classical style. Its tower bell was recently destroyed by a 7.2 magnitude earthquake.
Cardinal Hildebrando Antoniutti, Papal Legate to the Philippines, conferred upon the church the title of Basilica minore, a special privilege granted to the Augustinian Order by the Pope Paul VI. On the other hand, the former President Ferdinand Marcos declared the Sto. Niño Basilica a national shrine because of its historical significance.
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