Leal Senado Building

The Leal Senado faces Senado Square from the south and has been the seat of municipal government since 1784, its title, the loyal senate, granted after Macao held for the Portuguese crown during the Spanish union. Behind the entrance hall a walled courtyard garden in blue and white azulejo tile leads to a stairway and a library modelled on the one at Mafra in Portugal. The chamber upstairs is open when not in use.

History

A Chinese-style pavilion once stood on the site, where Portuguese and Chinese officials met and the Ming government announced its rules for Macau; the Portuguese wanted to buy it as early as 1583, but only bought it, with some Chinese houses behind, in 1784, for 80,000 taels. The Leal Senado building went up after the purchase and became the centre of Macau's political life, built in a plain style closer to 14th- and 15th-century Portugal than to the Pombaline fashion of the day, and at times it housed a museum of Luís Vaz de Camões, a post office, a court and a prison. It was fully refurbished in 1904 and damaged by a typhoon in 1936, after the handover of Macau to China in 1999 it became the seat of the municipal affairs bureau, and in 2005 it became part of the Historic Centre of Macau World Heritage Site (Wikipedia, Leal Senado Building).

The main sights

• The azulejo courtyard - the walled garden in blue and white Portuguese tile.
• The library - the reading room modelled on the palace library at Mafra.
• The senate chamber - the meeting room upstairs, open when not in use.
• The 1784 building - the seat of municipal government since the eighteenth century.

When to go

October to December is dry and cool. The building keeps daytime hours and closes Mondays. The library has its own limited hours.

Before you go

The building closes on Mondays and rooms are shut when in use. The library is small and access is sometimes restricted. Senado Square outside is crowded.

Nearby

Senado Square is in front, and the Holy House of Mercy is opposite.

Key facts