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 This route is interesting due to its centrifugal features radiating
from the ‘inner city’ out to the ‘outer city’, given that the area
around St. Lazarus Church used to lie at the edge of the Portuguese
settlement known as the ‘Christian City’.
Along the route there are many well known
“firsts”: the Santa Casa da Misericórdia (the Holy House of Mercy) was
Macau’s first charitable institution for the Portuguese community; St.
Raphael’s Hospital was the first Western-style hospital in Macau; St.
Lazarus Church was the first chapel for Chinese Catholic converts; Lazarus
District was the first example of urban planning in Macau; and Lou Lim
Ieoc Chinese Garden, was the first Suzhou-style garden built in Macau.
It is also worth mentioning that this route
features two important seats of power that once exerted enormous influence
on the Portuguese community: the worldly Leal Senado (Loyal Senate) and
the celestial Cathedral (Igreja da Sé).
Though Leal Senado Square no longer represents the heart of political
power in Macau, it remains the heart of the city, and is now a hub for
shopping, leisure, and festivities.
Looking at the magnificent structure of St. Lazarus Church, it is hard
to imagine that it used to be a simple structure built of wood and
matting. Its splendid decorations and brilliant interior design belie the
fact that it is one of the oldest churches in Macau.
The site of St. Raphael’s Hospital has a lot to tell. As the first
Western-style hospital in both Macau and China, it witnessed the
significant role Macau played in the history of Sino-European cultural
exchange. Now the Portuguese Consulate stands on the very same site, in
evidence of a new historical era in Macau.
Turning straight into Rua Nova de São
Lázaro from Rua do Pato, and looking at the Church in the distance, you
will have crossed over the original boundary that separated the Christian
city from the rest of Macau.
St. Lazarus District was also called “the circle for converts”
because it was the earliest Catholic settlement for Chinese. Nearby, Rua
do Volong was named after a wealthy Chinese Catholic who was buried in St.
Michael’s Cemetery just a stone’s throw away. The cemetery is the
earliest documented Chinese cemetery in Macau. St. Lazarus Church, which
lay outside the “Christian City”, was also renowned as the lepers’
colony but nowadays Chinese Catholics live all over Macau and the lepers
have long since disappeared. The district around St. Lazarus and along
Avenida Conselheiro Ferreira de Almeida has become a major shopping area,
in total contrast to its historical role.
Finally, the exquisite fragrance of the flowers and melodious singing
of the birds in Lou Lim Ieoc Chinese Garden evoke mixed emotions, as
visitors to the park ponder the fabulous wealth of the Lou family or pause
to utter a sigh of lament for its decline.
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Start the Cultural
Heritage Tour here...
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