Ruins of Saint Paul's

The Ruins of Saint Paul's (Chinese: 大三巴牌坊; Portuguese: Ruínas de São Paulo) are the ruins of a 17th-century Catholic religious complex in Santo António, Macau, China. They include what was originally St. Paul's College and the Church of St. Paul (Igreja de São Paulo) also known as "Mater Dei", a 17th-century Portuguese church dedicated to Saint Paul the Apostle. Today, the ruins are one of Macau's best known landmarks and one of the Seven Wonders of Portuguese Origin in the World. In 2005, they were officially listed as part of the Historic Centre of Macau, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Ruins of Saint Paul's
Type	Ruins
Location	Santo António, Macau, China
Coordinates	22°11′51″N 113°32′26″E
Height	26 metres
Formed	Granite, Masonry, Bronze
Founder	Alessandro Valignano SJ
Built	1637–1640
Built for	Catholic Church
Original use	Catholic Church
Restored	1995
Architectural style(s)	Baroque
Governing body	Macau Cultural Bureau
Website	http://www.wh.mo/cn/site/detail/18

Ruins of Saint Paul's
Chinese name
Chinese	大三巴牌坊
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Dàsānbā Páifāng Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization daaih sāam bā pàaihfōng Jyutping daai6 saam1 baa1 paai4 fong1
Portuguese name
Portuguese	Ruínas de São Paulo

History

Built from 1602 to 1640 by the Jesuits, during the time in which Portugal and Spain were under the same crown, the church was one of the largest Catholic churches in Asia at the time. It was destroyed by a fire during a typhoon on 26 January 1835. The Fortaleza do Monte overlooks the ruin.

Virgin Mary stepping on a seven-headed hydra.

The ruins now consist of the stone frontispiece. The façade sits on a small hill, with 68 stone steps leading up to it.

The façade is shaped like a retable and themed around the Assumption of Mary. Likely influenced by Japanese Christian craftsmen who worked on it, the ruins of St. Paul's include carvings with heterodox images that draw from Asian traditions, including Mary stepping on a seven-headed hydra, described in accompanying Chinese characters as "Holy Mother tramples the heads of the dragon". The base of the structure has six Chinese guardian lions carved from stone.

The Japanese Christian craftsmen who worked on St. Paul's were converted by Jesuits and expelled from Japan in 1587 when Toyotomi Hideyoshi banned Christianity.

The remains of around 250 Korean and Japanese slaves from the Portuguese slave trade are buried near the church.

Conservation

Resisting calls for the dangerously leaning structure to be demolished, from 1990 to 1995, the ruins were excavated under the auspices of the Instituto Cultural de Macau to study its historic past. The crypt and the foundations were uncovered, revealing the architectural plan of the building. Numerous religious artifacts were also found together with the relics of the Chinese Christian martyrs and the monastic clergy, including the founder of the Jesuit college in Macau, Father Alessandro Valignano.

The ruins were restored by the Macanese government into a museum, and the façade is now buttressed with concrete and steel in a way which preserves the aesthetic integrity of the façade. There was once a steel stairway that allowed tourists to climb up to the top of the façade from the rear, but due to concerns for the preservation of the church, tourists are no longer allowed to climb up.

Gallery

Front of the ruins of Saint Paul's:

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  The ruins of the original clock tower and cloister were opened into roads.
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  Stone carvings and bronze statues on the archway of the St. Paul's.
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  St Paul's Ruins from St Paul's Hill, Macau
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  At sunset
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  Façade of the Mother-of-God church
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Front of the ruins of Saint Paul's with stairs:

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  Ruins of St. Paul's Cathedral
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  Panorama of Ruins of St Paul's from the front of façade.
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  Remains of the Cathedral of Saint Paul, Macau
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  Remains of the Cathedral of Saint Paul, Macau at sunset
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Back of the ruins of Saint Paul's:

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  The back of the Ruins of St. Paul's, behind the façade are remains of the original pillars and a shrine.
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  The former church room, photographed from the first floor of the façade.
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  Back of the façade with the stairs for visitors
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Details

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  The emblem of the Jesuit Order on the Ruins of the St. Paul.
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  This is the entry of Cathedral of Saint Paul in Macau. "MATER DEI" is engraved on the front door, which means "Mother of God".
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  The foundation stone, laid in 1602, under the front wall (i.e. the Archway) of St. Paul's Church. The inscription "VIRGINI MAGNÆ MATRI CIVITAS MACAENSIS LIBENS POSVIT·AN·1602", which can be interpreted as: "The City of Macau built this Church in honour of the Great Virgin Mother in the year 1602".
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  Detail from the Saint Paul church ruins in Macau. The carvings include Jesuit images with Oriental themes, such as The Blessed Virgin Mary stepping on a seven-headed hydra, described in Chinese characters as 'Holy Mother tramples the heads of the dragon'.
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Sketches and old pictures

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  St. Paul's College and Church before the fire in 1834. It can be seen that most of the buildings of the College and Church, including the bell tower, still exist, painted by George Chinnery.
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  Ruins of the main altar of the church after the fire. Painted by Chanary in 1835.
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  The St. Paul's archway in 1870, photographed by John Thomson.
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  The façade of St. Paul's Church by Wilhelm Heine, 1854
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  After the Great Fire of 1835, the cloister next to the church survived and the bell tower next to it was badly damaged.
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  Some scholars who passed through the College: Matteo Ricci (left), Adam Schall (center), Ferdinand Verbiest (right); below Xu Guangqi and his granddaughter Candide Hiu
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  Jesuit missionary Ferdinand Verbiest. This is an enlargement of a part of the image that is to the left.
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  1869
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  1 October 1908
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  1854

Miscellaneous:

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  The ruins of the main altar no longer exist and are now the Museum of Sacred Art and Crypt
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  Entrance to the museum
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  The original Inner Harbor view on the St. Paul's archway is obscured by modern buildings, and the statue of Matteo Ricci is on the lower right.
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  Looking at the ruins of St. Paul's Cathedral, St. Paul’s archway, stone steps and inner harbor from the Fortress in 1955
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See also

• Museum of Sacred Art and Crypt
• Religion in Macau
• List of Jesuit sites

References

• Media related to Ruins of St. Paul's at Wikimedia Commons
• 192183185 Ruins of Saint Paul's on OpenStreetMap