Fort San Pedro

Fort San Pedro also known as Fuerza de San Pedro is located at Plaza de
Independencia in Cebu City. During the expedition of Magellan, it was mentioned that he was
able to set off the land of the Philippines, specifically in Cebu city. Unfortunately, during his stay
in the island, he was defeated by Lapu-Lapu and died. However, the exploration to the
Philippines didn’t end there. The first Governor-General of the Philippines, Miguel Lopez de
Legazpi set off to the city of Cebu and started the colonization and settlement of the Spanish in
the Philippines. During his governance, he ordered to build a fort in 1565 and was later called as
Fort San Pedro which came from the flagship that he sailed in the Pacific Ocean. The original
fort was once built with the use of woods but was then replaced by stones in the 17 th century to
chase away Muslim raiders. The fort served as a military defense structure. Its structure is
shaped in a triangular form where the lengths are uneven. Two sides of the fort are facing the
sea and the other facing the land. Fort San Pedro was also known as the smallest and oldest
fort in the country with a total area of 2,2025 square meters inside and the walls that are 20 feet
high and the towers that measures about 30 feet high from the ground. In the triangular formed
of the fort, composed the three bastions. These are San Miguel (northeast), La
Conception(southwest) and Ignacio de Loyola (southeast). Along with the bastions, are cannons
and other weapons that surrounds the building to prepare for the possible attacks.
Latterly, during the Philippine Revolution, Fort San Pedro was attacked and taken by
the Filipino Revolutionaries in the late 19 th century. Afterwards, the Americans took over and
made the Fort a Warwick Barracks which then was converted into a classroom for the local
Cebuanos. Aside from those, the fort also served as a defense walls and emergency hospital for
Japanese soldiers during World War II. As time goes by, the fort served other uses, such as
garden and zoo. In the present age, the Fort San Pedro is under the administration of National
Museum.
Looking at the fort in the modern age, several people talked about it in their own blogs
including Yoshke Dimen, wherein he went to Cebu city to visit the fort and talked about its
structure and state. He mentioned how he was welcomed by the pictures posted on the walls of
the barrel vault entrance that shows the development of the fort. Portrait of Ferdinand Magellan
was also present. The fort became a historical park which also have a museum inside that
contains several historical pictures and artifacts about the city.
REFERENCES:

Cebu 5, Fort San Pedro. (2022). Retrieved July 21, 2022, from Malapascua.de website:

http://www.malapascua.de/Cebu/Cebu_5__Fort_San_Pedro/hauptteil_cebu_5__fo

rt_san_pedro.html

Yoshke Dimen. (2012, July 28). Cebu: Inside Fort San Pedro, The Oldest Fort in the

Philippines. Retrieved July 21, 2022, from The Poor Traveler Itinerary Blog

website: https://www.thepoortraveler.net/2012/07/fort-san-pedro-cebu-city/

Cebu Fort San Pedro History | Cebu City Tour. (2016, January 13). Retrieved July 21,

2022, from Cebu City Tour website: https://www.cebucitytour.com/cebu-

destinations/cebu-fort-san-pedro/

‌Every First-Timer’s Guide to Fort San Pedro. (2020, December 14). Retrieved July 21,

2022, from ZenRooms Blogs website: https://www.zenrooms.com/blog/fort-san-

pedro/