Description of the attraction
Lapu Lapu City is a highly urbanized city in the Philippine province of Cebu, which occupies most of the Mactan Island, located a few kilometers from the island of Cebu. The city also includes the island of Olango and several other small islets. According to the 2007 census, 292 thousand people lived there.
Lapu Lapu is connected to the city of Mandaue on the island of Cebu by two bridges - Mactan Mandaue and Marcelo Fernan. It is here that the Cebu International Airport is located, the second most important in the Philippines. And the only oceanarium in the region of the Visayas operates here.
The island of Mactan was colonized by the Spaniards in the 16th century, but only in 1730 monks from the Augustinian order founded the settlement of Opon here, which two centuries later, in 1961, received the status of a city and was renamed Lapu-Lapu City.
The name of the city was given in honor of the leader of the local tribe Lapu-Lapu, who in 1521 killed the Portuguese navigator Fernand Magellan. In memory of this event, the Lapu-Lapu Memorial was erected in the city - a 20-meter bronze statue and a small chapel in the town of Punta Engagno. Lapu-Lapu himself, also known as Caliph Pulak, died in 1542. He was not only the leader of one of the local clans, but also the ruler of the entire island of Mactan. When the Spaniards, who appeared in Cebu, began to actively convert the locals to Christianity, it was Lapu-Lapu who opposed the colonialists. Today, Filipinos equally respect both heroes of that era: Magellan - as the discoverer of the country for Europe, Lapu-Lapu - as the first national hero, a fighter for the country's independence. Therefore, it should not be surprising that the memory of both historical characters is immortalized on the island of Cebu.
Another attraction of Lapu Lapu City is the Marcelo Fernan cable-stayed bridge, one of two bridges that connect the city to the island of Cebu. The bridge was opened in 1999 to reduce traffic on the older Mactan-Mandaue Bridge. The total length of Marcelo Fernana is 1237 meters, it is considered one of the widest and longest bridges in the Philippines. The bridge got its name in honor of the local politician Marcelo Fernand.
Tourists should also definitely visit the Mactan Oceanarium - the only one in the region of the Visayas. The Oceanarium was opened in 2008, and today there are about 30 exhibitions introducing visitors to some of the most beautiful and amazing marine life on the planet. The highlight of the oceanarium is the attraction, during which anyone can feed a real shark! By the way, this is the only attraction of this kind in Asia.
