Members of the media join the Smart Heritage Walk in Downtown Cebu on Saturday, February 8, 2020. The Pari-an Monument, San Juan Bautista Church and the Jesuit House were among the historical spots included in the heritage walk. | CDN Digital Photo by Morexette Marie Erram
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Downtown Cebu City is dotted with cultural sites of great historical significance — particularly heritage churches.
And what better way to experience the city’s old charms than visiting them and at the same time, see old photos showing what it was like before the internet paved the way for rapid information sharing.
With these heritage and cultural sites, Smart Communications and the Archdiocese of Cebu, through the Cebu Archdiocesan Commission for the Cultural Heritage of the Church, plan to launch a travel exhibit showcasing Cebu’s heritage churches.
The plan to launch a travel exhibit was announced on Saturday, February 8, after the media tour of the Smart Heritage Walk.
The activity gave media a glimpse of the heritage walk being planned in line with the 2021 quincentennial celebrations.
The travel exhibit will run up to one year, covering the towns of Boljoon, Argao, Barili, Danao, Bantayan, and Carcar City, to name some.
Fr. Brian Brigoli, head of the Cebu Archdiocesan Commission for the Cultural Heritage of the Church, said the travel exhibit, whose plans were being ironed out as of this writing, would ‘not be a typical exhibit’.
With the help of QR-codes now installed in heritage churches in Cebu, participants of the travel exhibit can access more information with the help of technology. Tourists and guests can read and view more details about the site’s historical and cultural significance at their fingertips.
The QR-coded heritage churches were launched last December 2019 by Smart, the Cebu Archdiocesan Commission for the Cultural Heritage of the Church and InnoPub Media.
“This will definitely be an interactive travel exhibit. We are incorporating technology and modern equipment in order to retell the important story of our heritage churches, which has significantly formed part in our history of our faith,” said Brigoli.
In Cebu City, the QR-coded churches are the Basilica Minore del Sto. Niño de Cebu, Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral, Cebu Archdiocesan Museum, and the San Bautista Chapel where the San Bautista Parish Church, once named as Cebu’s most opulent church, stood before.
In Cebu province, the heritage churches with QR codes include St. Michael the Archangel Parish (Argao), Nuestra Señora del Patrocinio de Maria Parish Church (Boljoon), San Guillermo de Aquitana Parish Church (Dalaguete), Our Lady of Immaculate Concepcion Church (Oslob), St. Michael the Archangel Parish Church (Samboan), San Gabriel Parish Church (Santander)Nuestra Señora del Pilar Parish Church (Sibonga), and St. Catherine of Alexandria Parish Church (Carcar City)./dbs
