Our History

The Old Church

The mission that became San Pedro Cathedral began in the 1840s, when Recollect missionaries came to the Davao area. When the settlement of Nueva Guipúzcoa was founded in 1848, a chapel of nipa and bamboo grew alongside it.

By 1860 the mission had become a full parish. The church was rebuilt more than once as the community grew, first in light materials and later in wood, and took on a Gothic-influenced face with twin bell towers.

The Old Altar

Jesuit missionaries later cared for the parish. They left during the Philippine Revolution, returned around 1900, and served until 1939, when the mission was entrusted to the P.M.E. fathers of Quebec.

Shepherds of Davao

The church came through the Second World War, when it was reportedly used as a stable by occupying Japanese forces, and later through the bombings that struck the city.

As the Church in Davao grew, San Pedro became the seat of its bishop. Today it is the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Davao.

The Vinta Rises

By the 1960s the old church could no longer hold its congregation. The engineer-architect Manuel Chiew designed its replacement, with structural work by Apolinar Bundalian. Its curving roof recalls the prow of a vinta, the sailing boat of Muslim Mindanao, crowned with a cross: a sign of unity between Davao's Christian and Muslim communities.

The cathedral stands on San Pedro Street, the oldest street in the city, and is recognised as a National Cultural Treasure.