Photographer’s Note
This photo was taken from a park wich is next to the the Mount Fortress.On the picutre we can see the Ruins of St. Paul's Church whic is the most popular "thing" to see in Macau
Let me tell you a quick story about the Church:
The church was built in 1602 adjoining the Jesuit College of St. Paul's, the first Western college in the Far East where missionaries such as Matteo Ricci and Adam Schall studied Chinese before serving at the Ming Court in Beijing as astronomers and mathematicians. The church, made of taipa and wood, was brilliantly decorated and furnished, according to early travelers. The facade of carved stone was built in 1620-27 by Japanese Christian exiles and local craftsmen under the direction of Italian Jesuit Carlo Spinola.
After the expulsion of the Jesuits, the college was used as an army barracks and in 1835 a fire started in the kitchens and destroyed the college and the body of the church. The surviving facade rised in 4 colonnaded tiers, and is covered with carvings and statues which eloquently illustrate the early days of the Church in Asia. There are statues of the Virgin and saints, symbols of the Garden of Eden and the Crucifixion, angels and the devil, a Chinese dragon and a Japanese chrysanthemum, a Portuguese sailing ship and pious warnings inscribed in Chinese.
Today at the back of the ruins there is a small Museum. When you visit macau enjoy it:)
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Photo Information
- Copyright: Domino Bledzki (Domino) (34)
- Genre: Places
- Medium: Color
- Date Taken: 2005-09-01
- Categories: Castles
- Exposure: f/4.1
- More Photo Info: view
- Photo Version: Original Version
- Date Submitted: 2006-03-12 10:58








