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Ruins Of St. Paul's

Symbol of Macau

In 1835, St. Paul's Church in downtown Macau was reduced to ashes by a fire, and all that remains is the front wall, which is the Ruins of St. Paul's. This monument of extraordinary historical significance has become the symbol of the city of Macau today.

The Ruins of St. Paul’s (Portuguese: Ruínas de São Paulo), the symbol of Macau, was once the front wall of St. Paul’s Church. In 1835, St. Paul’s Church and the adjacent St. Paul’s College were burned to the ground in a fire, and all that remained was the front wall of the church. Because the wall resembles the Paifang Arch in Chinese culture, locals named it Da San Ba Arch 大三巴牌坊 after the pronunciation of “São Paulo”.

History of St. Paul’s Church

The Ruins of St. Paul's is a must-see for visitors to Macau, standing halfway up the hill from the old town as the most important landmark in the city.

In 1600, Father Carlo Spinola, the designer of St. Paul’s Church, arrived in Macau and completed the preliminary design of the church before he went to Japan for missionary work. By this time, nearly 7,000 taels of silver had been spent on the construction of the church. By the end of 1603, the main body of the church was completed and the priest celebrated the first mass in the new church.

The church was finally completed in 1637 and took 35 years to build, with a nave and two side chapels. The “Assumption of the Virgin” and the “Martyrdom of the Eleven Thousand Virgins” were created by the Italian priest Giovanni, who was a painter, and the rosary reliefs on the roof are breathtaking, with vivid colors, exquisite craftsmanship and inlaid with gold leaf.

Ruins of St. Paul's

In 1795 the Portuguese government ordered the dissolution of the Jesuits and the seizure of St. Paul’s Church, which later became a garrison camp for the Portuguese army. on January 26, 1835, firewood in the kitchen caused the complete destruction of St. Paul’s Church and St. Paul’s College by fire, leaving only The Front Wall.

From 1990 to 1995, the reconstruction of the Ruins of St. Paul’s was initiated with the construction of a Steel-framed Deck at the back of the wall, the same height as the original choir. And the Museum of Sacred Art and Crypt was added underground at the other end of the site.

There is also a small plaza underneath the Ruins of St. Paul’s called Jesuit Memorial Plaza, connected to the ruins by 68 steps.

Statues and Stone Carvings

The Ruins of St. Paul’s is a typical Baroque Architecture, with curves and surfaces that give it a lively appearance. The facade can be divided into five levels, each of which is decorated with exquisite carvings and statues.

The original St. Paul’s Church, also known as the Church of the Mother of God, has the Latin inscription MATER DEI, which translates to “Mother of God”, on the middle gate on the first floor. It means that all those who wish to be saved should enter through this gate. The doors on the left and right sides are inscribed with IHS, which is the symbol of the Society of Jesus, indicating that via the cross one can be saved.

On the second floor are four Catholic saints, St. Francis Xavier, Aloysius de Gonzaga, St. Ignatius of Loyola and Francisco de Borgia.

Manywhere Tips:
Every December, the Macau Light Festival opens on time, with the hundreds-year-old St. Paul’s transformed into a dynamic screen of high-tech animated fantasies.

The shrine in the middle of the third floor of the facade houses the Statue of the Virgin Mary, who is the intermediary between earth and heaven, surrounded by roses and lilies in full bloom, symbolizing purity. The slabs on either side are carved with six angels, the top two praying in devotion; the middle two playing the trumpet, and the bottom two burning incense to escort the Virgin to heaven.

Next to it is a set of Our Lady Stepping on the Dragon's Head, in which the Virgin steps on a seven-headed winged dragon, carved from the biblical story of a woman destroying a demonic serpent. On the other side is carved A Sailing Ship, which was a favorite subject of the Jesuits, Macau residents and Portuguese navigators, linking the sailing ship with the Virgin, expressing the good wishes of people who prayed to the Virgin to bless the voyagers and the missionaries.

The leftmost 鬼是誘人爲惡 (Devils are Tempting People for Evil Deeds) relief on the third floor depicts a vicious mermaid shot by an arrow, symbolizing the temptation of the devil and the evil of desire.

The rightmost 念死者無爲罪 (Forget not Death and Thou Shalt not Sin) relief shows a skeleton symbolizing death lying on the ground, holding an arrow. The use of a skeleton as a decorative motif was unprecedented in China at the time, and the Jesuits used this allegorical stylistic symbol to provoke people to think about the meaning of life and death.

Inside the four-story shrine of the facade is a Statue of Jesus, which shows Jesus with his right hand outstretched, holding a globe (now non-existent). The sides are decorated with lilies and chrysanthemums, indicating holiness and purity. Further outward on either side are the instruments of Jesus’ crucifixion: a ladder, whip, vinegar-dipped sponge, Roman imperial banner, a crown of thorns, awl, nail, spear, and pincer.

The topmost Bronze Dove symbolizes the Holy Spirit and is surrounded by four stars, the sun on the right and the moon on the left, indicating the universe created by God, the Holy Spirit bathed in the three lights of the sun, moon, and stars.