Must-see attractions in Macau

  • Facade of St Paul's Cathedral, Macau

    Ruins of the Church of St Paul

    Macau

    The most treasured icon in Macau, the towering facade and stairway are all that remain of this early-17th-century Jesuit church. With its statues, portals…

  • Church of St Joseph

    Macau

    St Joseph’s, which falls outside the tourist circuit, is Macau’s most beautiful model of tropicalised baroque architecture. Consecrated in 1758 as part of…

  • Taipa Village

    Macau

    The historical part of Taipa is best preserved in this village in the south of the district. An intricate warren of alleys holds traditional Chinese shops…

  • Mount Fortress gateway, Macau

    Guia Fortress & Chapel

    Macau

    As the highest point on the peninsula, Guia Fortress affords panoramic views of the city. At the top is the small but stunning Chapel of Our Lady of Guia,…

  • Sir Robert Ho Tung Library, three storey Macanese mansion, Santo Agostinho Square.

    Sir Robert Ho Tung Library

    Macau

    This charming building, founded in the 19th century, was the country retreat of the late tycoon Robert Ho Tung, who purchased it in 1918. The colonial…

  • Ká Hó Church of Our Lady of Sorrows

    Macau

    Tent-like with a long, slanting roof, like hands in prayer, this church was raised in the Ká Hó leper colony in 1966. It was built for use by the female…

  • Chapel of Our Lady of Penha

    Macau

    This graceful chapel atop Penha Hill was raised as a place of pilgrimage for Portuguese sailors in the 17th century, purportedly by survivors of a ship…

  • Treasure of Sacred Art

    Macau

    Northeast of Largo do Senado, the 17th-century baroque Church of St Dominic contains the Treasure of Sacred Art, an Aladdin’s cave of ecclesiastical art…

  • Senate Library

    Macau

    Located in the Leal Senado, Macau's oldest and most lavish library is a beautiful adaptation of the 18th-century library in the Convento de Mafra outside…

  • Macau Museum of Art

    Macau

    This excellent five-storey museum has well-curated displays of art created in Macau and China, including paintings by western artists such as George…

  • Mandarin’s House

    Macau

    Built around 1869, the Mandarin’s House, with over 60 rooms, was the ancestral home of Zheng Guanying, an influential author-merchant whose readers…

  • St Lazarus Church District

    Macau

    A lovely neighbourhood with colonial-style houses and cobbled streets makes for some of Macau's best photo ops. Designers and other creative types like to…

  • Incense Spirals in Kun Iam Temple

    Kun Iam Temple

    Macau

    Macau’s oldest temple was founded in the 13th century, but the present structures date to 1627. The roof ridges are ornately embellished with porcelain…

  • Leal Senado

    Macau

    Facing Largo do Senado is Macau’s most important historical building, the 18th-century ‘Loyal Senate’, which houses the Instituto para os Assuntos Cívicos…

  • Monte Fort

    Macau

    Just east of the Ruins of the Church of St Paul, from which it is separated by a pebbled path and picturesque foliage, Monte Fort was built by the Jesuits…

  • MGM Cotai

    Macau

    In the MGM Cotai's atrium, the walls are hung with LED screens showing razor-sharp images of landscapes from all over the world. These are interspersed…

  • Coloane Village

    Macau

    Coloane's 'urban centre' is an old fishing village on its southwestern coast. It is marked by Tam Kung Temple to the south and Lai Chi Vun Village to the…

  • Dom Pedro V Theatre

    Macau

    This sage green neoclassical theatre is one of the oldest western-style theatres in East Asia, and remains an important cultural venue today. It was built…

  • Avenida da República

    Macau

    Banyan-lined Avenida da República, along the northwest shore of Sai Van Lake, is Macau's oldest Portuguese quarter. There are several grand colonial…

  • Church of St Dominic

    Macau

    Smack in the heart of Macau's historic centre, this sunny yellow baroque church with a beautiful altar and a timber roof was founded by three Spanish…

  • Lin Fung Temple

    Macau

    Dedicated to Kun Iam, the Goddess of Mercy, this graceful Temple of the Lotus was built in 1592, and underwent several reconstructions. It used to host…

  • Lou Kau Mansion

    Macau

    Built around 1889, this Cantonese-style mansion with southern European elements belonged to merchant Lou Wa Sio (aka Lou Kau), who also commissioned the…

  • Gallery of Macau's Gaming History

    Macau

    Macau's gambling industry goes back to the 16th century, when labourers from China played a game called 'fan-tan' in makeshift stalls. While scholars have…

  • Kun Iam Statue & Ecumenical Centre

    Macau

    An unconventional but utterly ethereal statue of Guan Yin, the Goddess of Mercy, designed by Portuguese architect and sculptor Cristina Rocha Leiria. The…

  • Patane Library

    Macau

    A row of seven shophouses skirting the Inner Harbour has been renovated into an attractive public library. Built in the 1930s, the colourful two-storey…

  • Albergue SCM

    Macau

    Once known as the Old Ladies’ House, the poetic courtyard with two yellow colonial buildings was a shelter for Portuguese refugees from Shànghǎi in WWII…

  • Pak Tai Temple

    Macau

    Pak Tai Temple sits quietly in a breezy square framed by old banyan trees. It is dedicated to a martial deity, the Taoist God ('Tai') of the North ('Pak')…

  • Penha Hill

    Macau

    Towering above the colonial villas of Avenida da República is Penha Hill, the most tranquil and least-visited area of the peninsula. From here you’ll get…

  • Chapel of St Francis Xavier

    Macau

    This chapel built in 1928 contains paintings of the infant Christ with a Chinese Madonna, a Korean missionary in period garments, and other reminders of…

  • Tap Seac Square

    Macau

    This beautiful square is surrounded by important historic buildings from the 1920s, such as the Cultural Affairs Bureau, Central Library, Library for…

  • Casa Garden

    Macau

    This beautiful colonial villa and park were built in 1770 as a merchant's residence. It later became the headquarters of the British East India Company…

  • Tap Seac Gallery

    Macau

    One of a handful of 1920s houses surrounding Tap Seac Square, this one formerly belonging to an upper-class family has a European-style facade and Moorish…

  • Cemetery of St Michael the Archangel

    Macau

    This cemetery, northeast of Monte Fort, contains tombs and sepulchres from the 19th and 20th centuries that are fine examples of baroque ecclesiastical…

  • AFA

    Macau

    Some of Macau’s best contemporary art can be seen at this nonprofit gallery, which has taken Macau's art worldwide and holds monthly solo exhibitions by…

  • Incense sticks and coils, Sam Kai Vui Kun Temple, Macau, China, Asia

    Sam Kai Vui Kun Temple

    Macau

    Literally ‘a community hall for three streets’, this temple was a meeting place for merchants and an adjudication court, before the Chinese Chamber of…

  • Interior of Church of St Augustine (Igreja de Sao Agostinho).

    Church of St Augustine

    Macau

    The foundations of this church date from 1586 when it was established by Spanish Augustinians, but the present structure was built in 1814. The high altar…

  • St Lawrences Cathedral in central Macau

    Church of St Lawrence

    Macau

    One of Macau's three oldest churches, St Lawrence was originally constructed of wood in the 1560s, then rebuilt in stone in the early 19th century. The…

  • Former Ká Hó Leprosarium

    Macau

    A row of five restored colonial-style houses of the former Ká Hó Leprosarium and the lovely Ká Hó Church of Our Lady of Sorrows have been restored and are…

  • Macau Museum

    Macau

    This museum inside Monte Fort gives an interesting overview of Macau's history. The 1st floor introduces the territory's history and how it was influenced…

  • A-Ma Cultural Village

    Macau

    Atop Alto de Coloane (170m), this 20m-high white jade statue of the goddess who gave Macau its name was erected in 1998. It's the best part of a touristy …

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