South Cebu Series - Carcar

Known as the Heritage City of Cebu, the City of Carcar is home to various Spanish- and American-era houses and structures. Carcar bacame a component city of the province of Cebu in a referendum on July 2007. It is 42 km away from Cebu City.

What to see in Carcar?

One of the most famous Spanish period structures in Carcar is the Saint Catherine of Alexandria Parish Church. The Greek Orthodox style inspires the main facade of the parish church because the domes of the two bell towers are similar to the bell towers of churches of the Greek Orthodox religion.

The parish church’s ceiling has beautiful symmetrical drawings and decorations. The concrete fence surrounding the church plaza has statues of saints standing on top of each fence column.

During the American period from 1922 to 1938, the then Mayor Mariano Mercado built several notable public structures in Carcar, including the Carcar Dispensary, the Rizal Monument, and the Carcar Rotunda. All of them are still standing until now. The Carcar Dispensary is now a public museum.

Located in the Carcar Plaza is the Carcar rotunda, a gazebo-like structure with intricate designs, stairways on four sides and two statues on top of its roof.

Carcar has some fine old colonial houses that are worth looking at. This “Heritage City of Cebu” has around 50 houses built from the mid 19th century to the early 20th century. Most of them are concentrated along Santa Catalina Street and the National Highway towards the Rotunda.