Ruins of St Paul's

What survives of the Church of Mater Dei is its front wall, and it is enough: a five-tier baroque facade in grey granite, carved with saints, angels, a bronze dove and, unusually, Chinese characters and a Japanese-influenced chrysanthemum, reflecting the Jesuit college and the exiled Japanese Christian craftsmen who built it in the early 1600s. Fire took the rest in 1835, leaving the facade standing above a grand sweep of steps like a stage set. Behind it, a crypt holds the remains of the college's founders and a small museum of sacred art, and the whole thing anchors Macau's UNESCO-listed historic centre.

History

The Jesuits built the church of St Paul, also called Mater Dei, with St Paul's College between 1602 and 1640, while Portugal and Spain shared one crown, and it was among the largest Catholic churches in Asia of its time. Its facade was probably shaped by Japanese Christian craftsmen, converted by the Jesuits and driven from Japan after Toyotomi Hideyoshi banned Christianity in 1587, which may explain carvings drawn from Asian traditions, such as Mary trampling a seven-headed hydra, described in Chinese characters as the Holy Mother treading on the dragon's heads. A fire during a typhoon on 26 January 1835 left only the stone front standing above its 68 steps; the bones of persecuted Japanese Christians are kept in the museum behind, and the remains of some 250 Korean and Japanese slaves from the Portuguese slave trade lie buried near the church. The ruins became part of the Historic Centre of Macau World Heritage Site in 2005 (Wikipedia, Ruins of Saint Paul's).

What's there

• The facade carvings - saints, ships, a hydra and the bilingual inscriptions.
• The grand staircase - the sixty-odd steps that frame the classic photograph.
• The crypt and Museum of Sacred Art - relics and paintings behind the wall.
• Mount Fortress - the old citadel and city views a short climb to the side.

When to go

Autumn brings Macau's driest, mildest weather and the clearest light on the granite. Early morning is the only reliable way to photograph the steps without crowds; evenings bring floodlighting and a different, quieter mood. Summer is hot, humid and typhoon-prone.

Practical notes

It is a facade and a staircase - the visit is short, and visitors expecting a full church are sometimes deflated. The surrounding approach street is a solid wall of souvenir and jerky shops, loud and commercial, which some find fun and others find exhausting. Free samples of almond cookies and pork jerky are the local ritual on that street; the queue length tells you which shops locals rate.

Nearby

Senado Square, Mount Fortress and the Macau Museum are all within a few minutes' walk.

Key facts