History of Colon street Cebu city

The History Behind Colon street

Colon Street has a lot more significance in the history of the country than most people seem to realise. The street is actually believed to be the oldest in the country. Its origins have been traced back to the town plan created by Miguel Lopez de Legazpi. The street was created as a part of the first Spanish settlement in Cebu, the Villa de San Miguel or St. Michael’s Town.

The street was named after Cristóbal Colón – The Spanish translation for Christopher Columbus – the Italian explorer known for his discovery of the “New World”, Christopher Columbus had been sailing for the Spanish monarchy despite his Italian heritage.

The evolution of Colon Street

Colon Street looks a lot different to what it had been back during its humble beginnings. Despite it’s run down look plaguing the street these days, it once was the heart of Cebu City’s shopping and business activity. Before the 90’s the street was home to many fashionable shops, offices, and cinemas. Cebuanos would flock to commercial establishments in Colon like Plaza Fair, Gazini Plaza, Rosita’s, and Gaw Trading.

But once we entered the 90’s, the mall culture of America also found its way into The Philippines. Malls such as SM and Ayala began to spring up in other areas of Cebu City. This began to threaten businesses in Colon as shoppers moved towards Malls due to their airconditioning and relaxing ambience.

Colon Street had also been known as being a hub for prostitution. Many short stay motels began to set up in the area offering cheap rates to for the booming industry. Colon Street is also home to many of Cebus universities. As Colon was previously known as a business hub, many universities were built in the area. These include University of Cebu, University of the Visayas, University of San Carlos, and the University of San Jose-Recoletos.