CEBU  , a

city and municipality, port of entry, and the capital of the province of Cebu, island of Cebu, Philippine Islands, on the E. coast, a little N. of the centre . Pop . (1903) of the city proper, 18,330;. of the municipality, 31,079; in the same year, after the census enumeration, the neighbouring municipalities of Mabolo (pop . 1903, 8454) and El Pardo (pop . 6461) were added to the municipality of Cebu . The surrounding country, which is level and fertile, is traversed by several good carriage roads . The port, formed by the north-west shore of the island of Mactan, is well protected from violent winds, and in front of it stands a picturesque Spanish fort . The streets are wide and regularly laid out . The government buildings are fairly good, and the church buildings very fine . Cebu is an episcopal see, and the palace of the bishop, although small, is widely known for its interior decorations . The Augustinian church is famous for its so-called miraculous image of Santo Nino . The Recoleto monastery and the seminary of San Carlos are worthy of mention .

The

cathedral was finished toward the end of the eighteenth century . The San Jose hospital here was founded by one of the religious orders . There was a leper hospital in the outskirts of the city until 1906, when a leper colony was established on the island of Cullen . Commercially, Cebu is the second city of the Philippines . Hemp, tobacco, sugar and copra are the most important exports . In addition to the trade with foreign ports, an important domestic commerce is carried on with Manila, Bohol, Negros and northern Mindanao . Salt, pottery and fabrics of silk, sinamay, hemp and cotton are manufactured, and sugar sacks are woven in considerable quantity . The island of Cebu is known for its excellent mangoes and for the rare cornucopia-shaped sponges, called Venus's flower basket (Euplectella aspergillum), found here . Historically CeM1 is famous as the scene of Magellan's landing in 1521 . A cross, said to be the one first erected by him, is still preserved in the cathedral . The great explorer lost his life in the neighbouring island of Mactan; a monument marks the place where he was killed . The first Spanish settlement in the Philippines was established at Cebu in 1565, and from that year to 1571 it was the capital of the colony .

The city is unincorporated . The

language is Cebu-Visayan .