Sights in Macau
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Ruins of the Church of St Paul
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.…
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Guia Fort
As the highest point on the Macau Peninsula, this fort affords panoramic views of the city and, when the air is clear, across to the islands and China. At the top you’ll find a 15m-tall lighthouse, built in 1865 and the oldest on the China coast, and the stunning Chapel of Our Lady of Guia built in 1622 and retaining almost 100% of its original features, including some of Asia’s most valuable mural paintings.
You could walk up, but it’s easier to take the Guia Cable Car that runs from the entrance to Flora Gardens, Macau’s largest public park.
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Macao Tea Culture House
The picturesque Lou Lim Ioc Chinese garden was originally owned by Lou Wa Sio back in the 19th century and later inherited by his son Lou Lim Ioc. Now it’s open to the public and local people use the park to practise t’ai chi or play traditional musical instruments. It contains huge shady trees, lotus ponds, golden bamboo groves, grottoes and a bridge with nine turns (since evil spirits can only move in straight lines). The Victorian-style Lou Lim Ioc Garden Pavilion was where the Lou family received guests, including Dr Sun Yat-sen, and is now used for exhibits and for recitals during the Macau International Music Festival in late October/November. Adjacent to the…
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Taipa House Museum
The restored villas here were the summer residences of wealthy Macanese. The House of the Regions of Portugal showcases Portuguese traditions. The House of the Islands looks at the history of Taipa and Coloane, with displays on traditional industries, such as fishing and the manufacture of fireworks. The Macanese House offers a snapshot of life in the early 20th century.
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A-Ma Temple
Opposite the Maritime Museum, the A-Ma Temple was probably already standing when the Portuguese arrived, although the present one may only date from the 16th century. The temple is dedicated to A-Ma aka Tin Hau, the goddess of the sea, from which the name Macau is derived. Many believe that when the Portuguese asked the name of the place, they were told ‘A-Ma Gau’ (bay of A-Ma). In modern Cantonese, ‘Macau’ is Ou Mun, meaning ‘gateway of the bay’.
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Monte Fort
Just east of the ruins of the Church of St Paul, Monte Fort was built by the Jesuits between 1617 and 1626 as part of the College of the Mother of God. Barracks and storehouses were designed to allow the fort to survive a two-year siege, but the cannons were fired only once: during the aborted attempt by the Dutch to invade Macau in 1622. Disembark at Social Welfare Bureau.
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Taipa Village
The historical part of Taipa is best preserved in this village in the south of the island. With a tidy sprawl of traditional Chinese shops and some excellent restaurants, the village is punctuated by grand colonial villas, churches and ancient temples. Avenida da Praia, a tree-lined esplanade with wrought-iron benches, is perfect for a leisurely stroll.
You can rent bicycles in Taipa Village fromAluguer de Bicicletas; there’s no English sign but it’s next to the Don Quixote restaurant.
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Ox Warehouse
One of the most happening nongovernment arts venues in Macau, this atmospheric former slaughterhouse hosts contemporary installations, exhibitions, workshops and performances by local and visiting artists. Much of the work is engagingly experiential in nature.
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Hác Sá Beach
Hác Sá (Black Sand) is the most popular beach in Macau. The sand is indeed a grey to blackish colour and makes the water look somewhat dirty (especially at the tide line), but it’s perfectly clean. Lifeguards are on duty from 10am to 6pm Monday to Saturday and from 9am to 6pm Sunday May to October.
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Macau Museum
To capture the essence of Macau’s history, head to this excellent museum housed in the Monte Fort. On the 1st level, ‘Genesis of Macau’ takes you through the early history of the territory, with parallel developments in the East and the West compared and contrasted. The highlight is the elaborate section devoted to the territory’s religions. On the 2nd level (Popular Arts & Traditions of Macau), you’ll see and hear everything from a re-created firecracker factory to the recorded cries of street vendors selling items such as brooms and scrap metal. Do not miss the recording of the Macanese poet José dos Santos Ferreira (1919–93), reading from his work in the local dialect.…
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A-Ma Statue & Temple
Atop Alto de Coloane (176m), this 20m-high white jade statue of the goddess who gave Macau its name was erected in 1998. Below it is Tian Hou Temple, which, together with the statue, form the core of A-Ma Cultural Village (媽祖文化村), a religious complex with a museum, retreat, medical centres and a vegetarian restaurant.
A free bus runs from the A-Ma ornamental entrance gate (媽祖文化村石牌坊) on Estrada de Seac Pai Van (bus 21A, 25, 50) half-hourly from 8am to 6pm. You can also reach both by following the Coloane Trail (Trilho de Coloane) from Seac Pai Van Park.
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IACM Gallery
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 that it occupied Portugal. In 1654, a dozen years after Portuguese sovereignty was re-established, King João IV ordered a heraldic inscription to be placed inside the senate’s entrance hall, and this can still be seen today. To the right of the entrance hall is the IACM Gallery, which features changing exhibits. On the 1st floor is…
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Senate Library
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 that it occupied Portugal. In 1654, a dozen years after Portuguese sovereignty was re-established, King João IV ordered a heraldic inscription to be placed inside the senate’s entrance hall, and this can still be seen today. To the right of the entrance hall is the IACM Gallery, which features changing exhibits. On the 1st floor is…
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Lou Lim Ioc Garden
People come to this Suzhou-style garden to relax, practise taichi or play Chinese musical instruments among shady trees, lotus ponds, bamboo groves and a bridge with nine turns (to escape from evil spirits who can only move in straight lines). The Victorian-style Lou Lim Ioc Garden Pavilion was where the Lou family received guests, including Dr Sun Yatsen, and is now used for exhibits and recitals during the Macau International Music Festival in late October/November. Adjacent to the garden is the Macao Tea Culture House, displaying the local tea culture with exhibits of various teapots.
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Coloane Village
Tourism has given the economy in Coloane Village a big boost, but it is still a sleepy fishing village in character. The narrow lanes flanked by temples still ooze old-world charm and make strolling a joy. The bus drops you off in the village’s attractive main square; Coloane market is on the eastern side. To the west is the waterfront. From here a sign points the way north to the Sam Seng Temple (2 Rua dos Navegantes), a small, family altar-like temple. Just past the temple is a quaint old wharf and beyond that, about a dozen junk-building sheds, although a fire in 1999 destroyed many of the sheds.
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Museum of Sacred Art & Crypt
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.
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Chapel of Our Lady of Guia
Guia Fort atop the highest point on the peninsula was built in 1638 to defend the border with China. Storm warnings were sounded from the bell in the Chapel of Our Lady of Guia, built in 1622. The walls of the little church have interesting frescoes discovered recently, and there’s a colourful choir loft above the main entrance. On the floor below is a tombstone with the inscription (in Latin) : ‘Here lies at this gate the remains of a Christian, by accident, for his body does not deserve such an honourable sepulchre’. It’s believed the deceased was buried here in 1687.
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Museum of the Holy House of Mercy
In the heart of Largo do Senado is the oldest social institution in Macau (established in 1569) and it served as a home to orphans and prostitutes in the 18th century. Today it’s a museum containing items related to the holy house, including religious artefacts; Chinese, Japanese and European porcelain; the skull of its founder and Macau’s first bishop, Dom Belchior Carneiro; and a portrait of Martha Merop, an orphan who became a tycoon and a patron of the house.
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Seac Pai Van Park
At the end of Cotai, this 20-hectare park, built in the wooded hills on the western side of the island, has somewhat unkempt gardens sprouting species of plants and trees from around the world, a children’s zoo, a lake with swans and other waterfowl, and a walk-through aviary (小鳥天堂) which contains rare birds. The Museum of Nature & Agriculture has traditional farming equipment, dioramas of Coloane’s ecosystem and displays cataloguing a wide range of the island’s fauna and flora.
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Museum of Nature & Agriculture
At the end of Cotai, this 20-hectare Seac Pai Van Park, built in the wooded hills on the western side of the island, has somewhat unkempt gardens sprouting species of plants and trees from around the world, a children’s zoo, a lake with swans and other waterfowl, and a walk-through aviary, which contains rare birds. The Museum of Nature & Agriculture has traditional farming equipment, dioramas of Coloane’s ecosystem and displays cataloguing a wide range of the island’s fauna and flora.
reviewed
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St Lazarus District
Looking for a cheerful rest area amid densely populated northern Macau? Head to this beautiful district not far from the Cemetery of St Michael the Archangel. The cobbled streets and historic houses of this district offer a little taste of the sleepy Macau of old. The highlight here is the Albergue da Santa Casa da Misericórdia (aka Old Ladies’ House), home to a group of avant-garde designers working in a variety of media. It also houses the cheerful Locanda Italian restaurant in its courtyard.
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Sun Yat Sen Memorial House
This mock-Moorish house (c 1910) commemorates Dr Sun Yatsen (1866–1925), founder of the Chinese republic. Dr Sun’s brother funded its construction, Dr Sun’s son built it and his first wife Lu Muzhen lived there until she died in 1952. Yet Dr Sun himself, who married his well-known second wife Madame Song Qingling in 1915, never lived in it.
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Macau Tower Observation Decks
Macau Tower, at 338m, is the 10th-tallest freestanding structure in the world; it stands on the narrow isthmus of land southeast of Avenida da República. The squat building at its base is the Macau Convention & Entertainment Centre. The tower houses observation decks on the 58th and 61st floors, and restaurants and bars such as the revolving 360° Café (11.30am-3pm, 3.30-4.15pm & 6-11pm) on the 60th floor, and the 180° Lounge (minimum charge MOP$60; noon-1am) one floor below it.
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Exhibition Gallery
Quietly sitting east of the Luís de Camões Garden is the beautiful colonial villa of Casa Garden, once the headquarters of the British East India Company when it was based in Macau in the early 19th century. Today the villa houses the Oriental Foundation, an organisation that promotes Portuguese culture worldwide, and an exhibition gallery, which houses exhibits of Chinese antiques, porcelain and contemporary art.
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Santa Sancha Palace
Avenida da República along the northwest shore of Sai Van Lake is the oldest Portuguese section of Macau. Here are several grand colonial villas not open to the public. The former Bela Vista Hotel, one of the most-storied hotels in Asia, is now the residence of the Portuguese consul general. Nearby is the ornate Santa Sancha Palace, once the residence of Macau’s Portuguese governors and now used to accommodate state guests.
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