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Old photos of Cebu City

26 photographs of Cebu City, from 1901 to 2025 — each pinned to the exact place it was taken.

Have an old photo of Cebu City? A family album, a postcard, a print from the attic. Pin it to the map and it becomes part of the record.
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What the photos show

The 26 photographs of Cebu City on PlaceWas span 5 decades, from 1901 to 2025. 7 of them were taken before 1980; the other 19 are recent views of the same streets and landmarks.3 spots were photographed more than once, so you can compare the same street, square or building across the years.26 of the photos carry a written caption explaining what is in the frame. Every picture is pinned to the place it was taken, so the map below shows where the photographers stood.

Pick a decade to filter the photos below and the map above. Open full map ↗

Places in Cebu City through time

Spots photographed more than once — compare the same place across the years.

EU: Ulice v Cebu (1901), Cebu City — photos through time
EU: Ulice v Cebu (1901) 7 photos · 1901–1934
Facade of Cebu Cathedral, Cebu City — photos through time
Facade of Cebu Cathedral 3 photos · 2018–2022
Santo Nino de Cebu Basilica, Cebu City — photos through time
Santo Nino de Cebu Basilica 2 photos · 2018

Stories from Cebu City

What contributors wrote about these photographs.

EU: Ruch na Calle Colon, Cebu (1901), Cebu City, 1901
EU: Ruch na Calle Colon, Cebu (1901) 1901 Traffic and activity along Calle Colon in Cebu City in this 1901 photograph. Calle Colon is often cited as the oldest street in the Philippines, laid out during the early Spanish colonial period.
Cebu Cathedral, Cebu City, 2007
Cebu Cathedral 2007 Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral in Cebu City, Philippines, photographed in 2007. The cathedral traces its origins to the founding of the Diocese of Cebu in 1595, making it one of the oldest church sites established under…
Cebu, Cebu City, 2016
Cebu 2016 Cebu City, the oldest city in the Philippines and the site of Ferdinand Magellan's arrival in 1521, is shown here in a 2016 photograph originally posted to Panoramio, documenting the everyday character of the country's…
Osmenia, Cebu City, 2016
Osmenia 2016 This 2016 photograph, uploaded to Panoramio, shows an area of Cebu City named for the Osmeña family, whose most prominent member, Sergio Osmeña, served as the fourth president of the Philippines.
Cebu Provincial Capitol facade, Cebu City, Cebu City, 2022
Cebu Provincial Capitol facade, Cebu City 2022 This 2022 photograph shows the facade of the Cebu Provincial Capitol, a Beaux-Arts building completed in the early 20th century that remains the seat of provincial government in Cebu, one of the Philippines' oldest…
Facade of the Metropolitan Church in Cebu City, Cebu City, 2022
Facade of the Metropolitan Church in Cebu City 2022 The Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral traces its origins to the Spanish colonial period and remains the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cebu in the Philippines. This photograph of its facade was taken in 2022.
Guadalupe Church in Cebu City, Cebu City, 2022
Guadalupe Church in Cebu City 2022 The Guadalupe Church in Cebu City, photographed in 2022, is a Roman Catholic parish church named for Our Lady of Guadalupe, serving a district of one of the oldest Spanish-founded cities in the Philippines.
Cebu Taoist Temple (The Garden), Cebu City, 2023
Cebu Taoist Temple (The Garden) 2023 The Cebu Taoist Temple, also known as The Garden, sits on a hillside in Cebu City, built by the local Chinese-Filipino community in the 1970s. Its pagoda-style architecture and dragon staircase draw both worshippers and…
1900s · 6 photos
1930s · 1 photo
2000s · 1 photo
2010s · 10 photos
2020s · 8 photos