Ruins of St Paul's

The ruins of St. Paul's are considered to be one of Macau's most famous landmarks. Was built in 1602, St. Paul's adjacents to the Jesuit Colllege of Paul's, which is the first estern 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 is made from taipa and wood, and with magnificently decorated and furnished.

After the expulsion of the Jesuits, the college was used as an army barracks. Unfortunately, in 1835, a fire destroyed the college and the body of the church, now only the front facade and the ground stone stairs remained. Under the direction of the Italian Jesuit Carlo Spinola, The facade of carved stone was built by the Japanese Christian exiles and local craftsmen.

The surviving facade eloquently illustrate the early days of the Church in Asia. With unique designs, it rised in 4 colonnaded tiers, and is covered with carvings and statues. 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.

The back side of the Ruins of St. Paul's was turned into a museum after the restoration work, which lasted from 1990 to 1995. The ruins are knowns as the symbol of Macau, and it became one of the important tourist site, where tourists can view the remains of the former Church of the Mother of God, visit a Crypt where the relics of the Martyrs of Japan and Vietnam rest, and a museum of Sacred Art where there are exhibits of paintings, sculptures and liturgical objects from churches and monasteries in the City.

Today, many music performances are held at the Ruins of St. Paul's, which, with its stairs and dramatic setting, lends itself as a natural stage. Within the precincts of Ruins of St. Paul's lies the Museum of Sacred Art and Crypt. The Museum exhibits religious paintings, statues and sacred objects from Churches in Macau while in the crypt adjacent to the Museum the visitor can observe the relics of martyrs from Japan and Vietnam.