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Beside Sao Paulo Cathedral is another large fortress--called Monte Fort--that offers breathtaking views of the cathedral, downtown, and China. This is Macau's largest fort and was constructed way back in 1616. Today, instead of soldiers, the fort houses the Macau Museum (opened in 1998) and a small gift shop along with some pretty flower gardens.
All that remains of the greatest of Macau’s chruches is its magnificent stone facade and grand staircase. The church was built in 1602 adjoining the Jesuit College of St. Paul’s, the first Western college in the Far East where missionarie such as Matteo Ricci and dam Schall studied Chinese before serving at the Ming Court in Peking as astronomers and mathematicians. The church, made of taipa and wood, was brilliantly decorated and fiurnished, according to early travellers. The facade of carved stone was built 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...
The original church was built by Spainsh Augustinian friars in 1586 and taken over by the Portuguese three years later. The present building dates from 1814 and has a spacious interior with three aisles separated by colonnades. The marble-clad high altar contains a statue of Christ carrying the cross. It is said that when this statue was taken to the Cathedral by Church authorities it would mysteriously return to the altar of the church. In commemoration the procession of Our Lord of the Passion (Nosso Senhor dos Passos) is held every year on the first Sunday of Lent. The statue is taken to the Cathedral for a night and next day is carried through the streets where the Stations of the Cross are set up, and, attended by the clergy and hundreds of citizens, is restored to St. Augustine’s. When the Augustinians were expelled in 1712, the Passos procession was cancelled. It was a time of...
The first chapel was founded in 1622 by the crew and passengers of a ship which had narrowly escaped capture by the Dutch. The chapel served as a point of pilgrimage for sailors embarking on a hazardous voyage. The chapel was completely rebuilt, along with the Biship’s Palace in 1837. It is open daily from 9am to 5:30pm.http://www.cityguide.gov.mo/tg/church/c_detaile.asp?lc=2&lkey=02020600000000000000
Built 1617-26, Monte Forte occupies 21,000 square feet in an irregular quadrangle with bastions at each corners. It contained barracks, cisterns and storehouses capable of sustaining a siege of up to two years. Constructed by the Jesuits of chunambo on granite foundations, with brick gauardrooms and cannon housings, the fort was part of a complex together with the college and church of St. Paul.The cannons commanded very wide fields of fire, covering the Inner and Outer Harbours and the Chinese border. The guns were used only once, when the Dutch invaded Macau in 1622. A cannonball fired by a priest from Monte hit the invaders' powder key, creating total confusion in which the Portuguese and their African slaves drove the Dutch back to sea.Today the fort is a public park, with fine views of St. Paul’s and the city. It is also used by the meteorology department to study the weather which...
Built 1637-38 on the highest point of Macau, by Captain of Artillery, António Ribeiro, it occupies 8,600 square feet in a rough pentagon, as dictated by the irregular terrain. The walls are of masonry and rise about 10 feet in a gentle slope, with two of the original brickwork turrest. It was designed to defend the border with China but because of its poistion overlooking the entire city, its chief value has been as an observation post. It contained barracks, a water cistern, ammunition and equipment stores, the commander’s house and a hermitage dedicated to Our Lady of Guia. The fort’s dominating feature is the lighthouse, built in 1865 and the oldest on the China coast. It is 52.5 feet high and has a light which can be seen for 20 miles in clear weather. Originally it was lit by paraffin, and changed to electrical power in 1909. Beside the lighthouse, there is a post where signals are...
Monte Fort was built on a hilltop in the early 17th century by the Jesuits as part of a complex which also included the college and church of St. Paul's. Today the area is a popular public park with great views, where only the ruins of the fortress and some cannons can be seen (and the new Museum of Macao).
I've read somewhere that the Chinese name of the fortress means cannon platform and it does live up to this image: there are cannons everywhere, pointing toward the city. However, they were used only once, in 1622, when the Dutch invaded Macao.
The Senate Square is a nice central square, surrounded by beautifully renovated buildings, paved by mosaic tyles in a wave pattern, with a fountain in the middle. Short, it's a great place, with one major shortcoming: there are no terraces, cafes, places to sit down AND have a drink (there are benches around the square). Maybe it's just my disappointment, but I had read about the place, and as I was walking around in the heat, I was very much looking forward to arriving to the beautiful Senate Square and collapse there on a terrace with a cold drink (but I had to go as far as the Monte Fort to find a nice little cafe). Otherwise, it's a fantastic square.
The goddess A-Ma - also known as Tin Hau - is the protector of sailors. According to the legend, a poor girl wanted to sail to Macao, but she was refused by the rich junk owners. A storm came and only her vessel reached the shore safely, where she was engulfed in a ray of light and transformed into the goddess A-Ma. Today, the temple complex is a place of pilgrimage for Macao's fishermen (and a must for every tourist visiting the city). On the day of A-Ma (the 23rd day of the 3rd moon) there is a huge festival.
Venetian Macao Resort Hotel Ilha de Macau
1 Review and 2019 Opinions WONDERFUL and very relaxing! I feel that we really got our money's worth! The room was very...
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Q: Hi.. I was wondering if anyone could suggest me good and cheap local travel agents in Macau that can arrange Day tours. I would...
A: the lisboa casino gets very lively late at night. but I had better luck at the MGM.as for travel agents. language was very difficult in Macao part portuguese and part...
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