Preserving Cebu's heritage

The Parian Park Plaza, which stands proudly at the center of one of the oldest districts of Cebu, recently underwent intensive preservation and extensive restoration. The result is a widely acclaimed new look.

The Department of Tourism gave financial assistance — in the amount of P2 million — for the restoration. The work included the landscaping and lighting of the area; improvement of the flooring and moldings; and the addition of grill fencing for the Heritage of Cebu Monument. The monument is a sculptural tableau by National Artist Eduardo Castrillo. The peripheries of the monument feature the island’s historical highlights through the centuries — from the days of Lapu Lapu, Rajah Humabon and Ferdinand Magellan, to the inaugural of President Sergio Osmeña, to the heartwarming beatification of the Christian martyr Pedro Calungsod — and several other cultural and ecclesiastical sites, ancestral homes and government seats of power of past generations.

Tourism Secretary Ace Durano and Cebu City Mayor-elect Michael Rama led the simple yet memorable ceremonial unveiling. Joining them were tourism undersecretary Edu Jarque Jr. and Parian Barangay chairman Mark Balaga.

“As one of the city’s deeply rooted historical quarters, the Parian district is teeming with structures, monuments, collections and stories that encompass several periods from Cebu’s rich past, dating back from the 15th century. Our history lives within this site,” Durano said.

The area was once a bustling community where the locals, the Chinese and the Spanish mestizos, engaged in commerce and trade for several centuries.

Some of Cebu’s prominent names, such as the Osmeña, Cuenco, Avila, Alvarez, and Uy-Herrera clans, among many others, trace their roots to this section of town, which was an enclave of wealthy families.

“The Parian Heritage Park is the faithful storyteller of the glorious past of the Queen City of the South,” said Jarque. “It allows tourists and visitors to relive Cebu’s old grandeur. The newly refurbished Parian Park will serve to enhance Cebu’s popular Heritage Tour and further boost tourists into the region.”

In addition to the newly renovated and restored Heritage Monument of Cebu, other historical landmarks that can be found in the Parian district include the Balay na Bato, the ancestral house of the Yap-Sandiego family, a well-preserved stone house that was constructed in the 1700s; the Jesuit House, once the residence of the Jesuit superior in Cebu and believed to have been built in 1730; and the Casa Gorordo Museum, which was built in the 1860s as a home for the first Cebuano bishop, Juan Gorodo.  

Cebu has a new grand dame well worth visiting by day or by night. Be informed, be enthralled, be enchanted.