The Basilica del Santo Niño
The Basilica del Santo Niño, officially the Minor Basilica of the Holy Child and locally known as the Basílica Minore del Santo Niño de Cebú, is a basilica located in Cebu City in the Cebu province of the Philippines. Built in 1565, allegedly on the spot where an image of the Santo Niño de Cebú was found during the Spanish conquistador Miguel López de Legazpi's expedition to the archipelago, it is the oldest Roman Catholic church in the Philippines.[1]
Situated near the basilica is the Magellan's Cross Pavilion, a stone kiosk which allegedly houses the Christian cross planted by the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan when he arrived on Cebu in 1521.[2]
History[]
Golden Age of Piracy[]
At some point in the early 18th century, the Dutch East India Company navigator Hendrik visited the basilica and met a monk who told him of Ferdinand Magellan's search for an Isu artifact on Cebu two centuries prior. This inspired Hendrik to investigate the legend further and eventually led him to discover the location of the lost Khmer city of Angkor, which was rumored to house Isu relics.[3]
Hendrik subsequently wrote several sea logs containing clues to Angkor's location and hid one such journal within Magellan's cross, which was kept inside the Basilica del Santo Niño.[4] Upon learning about this, the members of the Zhang Wei Union and a Visayan resistance led by Rajah both traveled to Cebu to find the cross, with the latter arriving at the basilica first.[5]
After slaughtering all the priests inside, Rajah retrieved the sea log from the cross and used the crescent amulet to decipher its contents. He then ordered his men to set the cross on fire as a sign of defiance against the Spanish colonizers and their God, and was confronted by the British Assassin Edward Kenway and the samurai Shimazu Saito, who had infiltrated the church amidst a fight outside between Rajah's men and the Spanish Army. [6]
Leaving his warriors to deal with the pair, Rajah exited the basilica and was surrounded by several Spanish soldiers, but used the amulet to force them to kill each other, allowing him to escape.[6] Edward and Saito also left the church after defeating Rajah's men, and set off in pursuit of the Visayan chief to recover the sea log.[7]
Modern times[]
In 2023, the Korean-American Noa Kim and the Japanese Templar Shimazu Sei visited the Basilica del Santo Niño and the Magellan's Cross Pavilion as part of their efforts to trace Edward Kenway's footsteps in Cebu. Noa used his Eagle Vision inside the pavilion but was unable to find anything useful, which Sei deduced was because the cross was a replica.[8]
Gallery[]
Appearances[]
References[]
- ↑
Basilica del Santo Niño on Wikipedia
- ↑ Magellan's Cross Pavilion on Wikipedia
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple – Episode 41
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple – Episode 56
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple – Episode 65
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple – Episode 66
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple – Episode 67
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple – Episode 43
