Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
7
Mandarin's House
NOTABLE BUILDING
OFFLINE MAP
GOOGLE MAP
This stunning complex (c 1869), with more than 60 rooms, was the ancestral home of
Zheng Guanying, an author-merchant whose readers included Chairman Mao. There's a
moon gate, a passageway for sedans, and courtyards and halls in a labyrinthine layout.
(Caso do Mandarim;
2896 8820;
www.wh.mo/mandarinhouse
; 10 Travessa de Antonio da Silva; admission free;
10am-5.30pm Fri-Tue;
28B, 16)
8
St Lazarus Church District
NEIGHBOURHOOD
OFFLINE MAP
GOOGLE MAP
This lovely neighbourhood has cobbled streets where artists like to set up shop. Highlights
include
Old Ladies' House
(
www.albcreativelab.com
; 8 Calcada da Igreja de Sao Lazaro; admission free;
noon-7pm Wed-Mon)
, which once sheltered homeless elderly women; and
Tai Fung Tong Art
House
(7 Calcada Central de Sao Lazaro; admission free; 2-6pm Tue-Sun)
, a historical building featur-
ing a mix of Chinese and European architectural styles.
(Calcada da Igreja de Sao Lazaro;
7, 8)
Understand
Mediterrasian Macau
The Portuguese colonisation of Macau, which lasted from the mid-16th century to 1999, left a legacy of southern
European-style buildings in the Chinese city. But what appears to be Portuguese architecture is often a complex
fusion of Portuguese and Chinese building styles, techniques and materials, with influences from Goa (India), the
Philippines and Malacca (Malaysia) - as well as contributions from the Italian and Spanish missionaries who en-
riched it with their sensibilities and traditions. Generally the only buildings that are entirely Chinese or Por-
tuguese are, respectively, temples and fortresses.
Churches
Macau's churches feature a baroque style simplified and adapted for the tropical climate, similar to that found in
Goa and Brazil. A characteristic of this tropicalised baroque architecture is the use of wood in place of stone - the
Chinese were experts at carpentry, while the southern Europeans were master masons.
You can see this at St Joseph Seminary Church (
Click here
)
, one of Macau's most beautiful buildings. Con-
secrated in 1758, it has a lemon-meringue facade, a scalloped canopy at the entrance and the first dome to be built
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