Ruins of St. Paul's, Macau, China

3nickelowe 5:00 PM Feb 22, 2023

Great Pit-stop in Your Day Trip from Hong Kong
This site reminded me of the Spanish steps in Rome. St Paul’s Ruins is worth the visit combining the authentic Macau alleys and side streets, and adding a few other sites to visit on the same day. I started my journey from Hong Kong by ferry in the morning (55min smooth ride), took a taxi and visited first Taipa - a cute little genuine Macaon village with authentic Portugese-style houses, then visited by foot the magnificient Venetian casino and finished the day with a visit to St Paul’s Ruins. That all filled the day and you have time to catch the 8pm ferry back to Hong Kong. A perfect day!

4Anthony 5:00 PM May 21, 2020

Many interesting stories surrounding the Ruins of St. Paul’s
One of them is the Ruins of St. Paul’s. It was built between 1602 and 1640, by Jesuits. At the time, it was one of the biggest catholic churches in China. Today, you will be able to visit the Church and the College dedicated to St. Paul. Half of the structure was burnt in 1835, but the front of the building stands tall to this day and it was an astonishing sight. Symbolism for the Holy Trinity is carved at the top. Depicting the sun, the moon, and the stars are one of the many elements of architectural interest on top of the facade. The most prominent of all is the statue of Jesus underneath these symbols. It combines a lot of elements from western and eastern architecture, since people from many different ethnicities, such as Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, and Italians, were involved in the building process. There are many interesting stories surrounding the Ruins of St. Paul’s and the one I found the most interesting talks of a tunnel connecting St. Paul’s Church to the inner harbor. It is one of the Seven Wonders of Portuguese Origin in the World and was part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, in 2005.