Hong Kong and Macau_ City Guide (Lonely Planet, 14th Edition) - Andrew Stone [246]
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MACAU PENINSULA
You’ll find the lion’s share of Macau’s mu-seums, churches, gardens, old cemeteries and important colonial buildings on the peninsula. In 2005, Unesco recognised this wealth by adding the Historic Centre of Macau, comprising 30 sites, to its World Heritage list. If you’re after more active pursuits, such as cycling, hiking and swimming, head for the islands ( Click here).
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Central Macau Peninsula
Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro – called San Ma Lo (New St) in Cantonese, together with its southern extension, Avenida do Infante Dom Henrique – is the peninsula’s main thoroughfare. It effectively divides the narrow southern peninsula from central and northern Macau. In the centre of this long thoroughfare is the cobbled square, Largo do Senado. Bus 3 brings you to the city centre. The free casino shuttle to Grand Lisboa is a viable alternative. The sights are within walking distance from the casino.
RUINS OF THE CHURCH OF ST PAUL Map
Ruinas de Igreja de São Paulo; Travessa de São Paulo; admission free
The most treasured icon in Macau, the facade and stairway are all that remain of this early-17th-century Jesuit church, called Tai Sam Ba in Cantonese. With its statues, portals and engravings that effectively make up a ‘sermon in stone’ and a Biblia pauperum(Bible of the poor), the church was one of the greatest monuments to Christianity in Asia, intended to help the illiterate understand the Passion of Christ and the lives of the saints.
The church was designed by an Italian Jesuit and completed by early Japanese Christian exiles and Chinese craftsmen in 1602. It was abandoned after the expulsion of the Jesuits in 1762 and a military battalion was stationed here. In 1835 a fire erupted in the kitchen of the barracks, destroying everything, except what you see today.
At the top is a dove, representing the Holy Spirit, surrounded by stone carvings of the sun, moon and stars. Beneath the Holy Spirit is a statue of the infant Jesus surrounded by stone carvings of the implements of the Crucifixion (the whip, crown of thorns, nails, ladder and spear). In the centre of the third tier stands the Virgin Mary being assumed bodily into heaven along with angels and two flowers: the peony, representing China, and the chrysanthemum, a symbol of Japan. To the right of the Virgin is a carving of the tree of life and the apocalyptic woman (Mary) slaying a seven-headed hydra; the Japanese kanji next to her reads: ‘The holy mother tramples the heads of the dragon’. To the left of the central statue of Mary, a ‘star’ guides a ship (the Church) through a storm (sin); a carving of the devil is to the left.
The fourth tier has statues of four Jesuit doctors of the church (from left to right): Blessed Francisco de Borja; St Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the order; St Francis Xavier, the apostle of the Far East; and Blessed Luís Gonzaga.
MUSEUM OF SACRED ART & CRYPT Map
Museu de Arte Sacra e Cripta; Travessa de São Paolo; admission free; 9am-6pm
This small museum behind the ruins of the Church of St Paul contains polychrome carved wooden statues, silver chalices, monstrances and oil paintings, including a copy of a 17th-century painting depicting the martyrdom of 26 Japanese Christians by crucifixion at Nagasaki in 1597. The adjoining crypt contains the remains of the martyrs, as well as those of Vietnamese and other Japanese Christians killed in the 17th century. Also here is the recently unearthed tomb of Alessandro Valignano, the Jesuit who founded the College of the Mother of God and is credited with establishing Christianity in Japan.
CENTRALMACAU PENINSULA
LEAL SENADO Map
163 Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro
Facing Largo do Senado to the west is Macau’s most important historical building, the 18th-century ‘Loyal Senate’, which now houses the Instituto para os Assuntos Cívicos e Municipais (IACM; Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau). It is so named because the body sitting here refused to recognise Spain’s sovereignty during the 60 years