A-Ma Temple

A-Ma Temple predates the city itself, and the story goes that Portuguese sailors landing nearby asked the name of the place, were told A-Ma-Gau - the bay of A-Ma - and wrote down Macau. Dedicated to the sea goddess who protects fishermen, the temple is not one hall but a series of pavilions and shrines climbing a rocky hillside through gates, boulders carved with poems and twisting trees, each level thicker with incense smoke than the last. Model junks are carved into the rocks by grateful sailors, giant coils of incense hang overhead, and the whole complex forms part of Macau's UNESCO-listed historic centre.

History

The temple to the sea goddess Mazu was built in 1488 and is one of the oldest in Macau, and the city's name is thought to come from it: Portuguese sailors who landed outside the temple and asked the name of the place are said to have been told A-maa-gok, the pavilion of the goddess, which they wrote down over the centuries as Amacão, Amaquão and similar forms until the first letter dropped away and the name became Macau. The temple was described in old Chinese texts, shown in paintings of Macao and was one of the first scenes photographed there, and in 2005 it became one of the sites of the Historic Centre of Macau World Heritage Site (Wikipedia, A-Ma Temple).

The main sights

• The hillside shrines - the climb through gates and pavilions to the upper halls.
• The carved boulders - poems and the famous rock-cut sailing junk.
• The incense coils - great spirals burning in the prayer halls.
• The Maritime Museum - the sea-trade story across the square.

When to go

Cool autumn and winter months are the comfortable window, and mornings are the calmest. The temple is at its most alive during A-Ma's festival in spring and at Chinese New Year, when worshippers pack every level - spectacular, crowded and best watched from the edges.

Good to know

This is an active place of worship on a working hillside: steps are uneven, smoke is heavy, and the upper shrines involve a real climb. Visitors should keep quiet, avoid photographing worshippers close up, and step around offerings rather than over them. The surrounding streets are pleasantly ordinary Macau, worth a wander before the tour groups arrive.

Nearby

The Moorish Barracks, Barra Square and the Inner Harbour waterfront are all within a short walk.

Key facts