Old Pari-an Plaza across Colon St.

At the center of old Cebu’s Parian district was Plaza Parian and the massive Iglesia de San Juan Bautista, which was suppressed and destroyed in the 1870s. A number of stone, tile, and wood principalia residences were gathered around the Plaza, such as those of the Cui, Gandionco, Del Mar, Garces, Sanson, Villa, Rodriguez, and Avila families. The triangular Plaza was for a long time the venue of a theatrical performance by life-size marionettes depicting the life of St. John the Baptist up to the time of his decapitation. Year after year, until the 1970s, the decapitation scene with its fake blood and gore drew applause from its huge audience. At present, it is now the site of the Heritage of Cebu Monument, a tableau that depicts the history of Old Parian.