Lapu-Lapu / Mactan Shrine

Mactan Shrine, also known as Liberty Shrine, is a memorial park on the island of Mactan in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu, Philippines. It hosts two monuments, namely the Magellan Monument, which is dedicated to Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan and the Lapu Lapu Monument, a bronze statue that commemorates Lapu Lapu, a native leader who defeated Spanish soldiers led by Magellan in the 1521 Battle of Mactan.

The Lapu-Lapu memorial statue is on top of a pedestal surrounded by a low-level fence and shows the Cebuano hero in his native costume with a sword in his right hand and a shield in his left.

The Lapu-Lapu Shrine is inside a plaza commonly known as the Magellan Shrine park that commemorates the events of the Battle of Mactan. Thousands of foreign and local tourists visit the park every year. The park includes the Magellan Shrine, a covered structure that houses a huge mural painting of the Battle of Mactan, and a commemorative marker.

The covered structure in the park houses a mural painting on the wall depicting the Battle of Mactan. A commemorative marker in front of the painting reads “Here on April 27, 1521, Lapu-Lapu and his men repulsed the Spanish invaders, killing their leader, Ferdinand Magellan. Thus Lapu-Lapu became the first Filipino to have repelled European aggression.”