Pila Historical Society Foundation Inc.
1. La Villa del Santísimo Nombre de Jesús de Cebú (1565): The First Villa
The Adelantado Don Miguel López de Legazpi, inaugurated the first “Villa de Españoles” in the Islands in Cebú on May 8, 1565. It was the Feast of the Apparition of St. Michael the Archangel, his patron saint. Hence, he named the place La Villa de San Miguel. To guard it, he built the triangular walls of Fort San Pedro, which still stands today. Six years later, on New Year’s Day 1571, the governor changed the name of the first Spanish settlement to La Villa del Santísimo Nombre de Jesús (The Villa of the Most Holy Name of Jesus) in commemoration of the discovery of the image of the Child Jesus in the center. The statue had been gifted by Magellan to the queen of Cebú in 1521. It was worshipped in the meantime as an idol by the natives. In the same year, Legazpi further raised Cebú as the first Spanish city in the Philippines as well as its first capital. Both Magellan and Legazpi had been warmly welcomed by the chiefs of Cebú, then already a flourishing trade center in Asia, conspicuously bartering in gold. Sugbó, its ancient name, means “to wade ashore” - the way travelers and traders had to approach the island from their sea vessels moored farther away in shallow waters. xii