Travel highlights
Located on the southeast coast of Mainland China, Macau has been a point of intersection
between Chinese and Western culture for four hundred years, particularly Portuguese culture.
You can see the fusion of cultural essences in the details, patterns, and imagery used in
Macau’s architecture, nearly everywhere you look. Of particular interest is the Historic
Centre of Macau, where the old buildings still thrive, teeming with life and brimming with
the mysteries of Macau’s multicultural heritage. The area covered by Macau is quite small,
only 29.9 square kilometers, but its food, ancient architecture, shopping and rich nightlife
attract countless tourists.
1. The Ruins of the Cathedral of Saint
Paul
The Ruins of St. Paul's (Chinese: 大三巴牌坊; Portuguese: Ruínas de São Paulo) are the ruins of a
17th-century complex in Santo António, Macau, China. It includes what was originally St.
Paul's College and the catholic Church of St. Paul 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. They are often, but incorrectly, mentioned as a former cathedral (see
Macau Cathedral), a status they never had. In 2005, they were officially listed as part of
the Historic Centre of Macau, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
2. Largo do Senado
The Senado Square, or Senate Square (Portuguese: Largo do Senado; Chinese: 議事亭前地, Cantonese
Yale: Yíh Sih Tìhng Chìhn Deih), is a paved town square in Sé, Macau, China and part of the
UNESCO Historic Centre of Macau World Heritage Site. It is an elongated triangular shaped
square and connects Largo do São Domingos at one end and Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro on the
other. It covers an area of 3,700 square meters (4,425 square yards).
The square was named after the Leal Senado, a meeting place for the Chinese and Portuguese
in the 16th to 18th centuries, located directly in front of the square, where Leal Senado
Building stands today.
In 1940, a small garden was built at the centre of the square, featuring a bronze statue of
Vicente Nicolau de Mesquita standing above a stone pillar pulling out a sword. The statue
was pulled down in the 12-3 incident as Mesquita was responsible for the deaths of many Qing
Chinese soldiers. A fountain was built at its site and still stands today. Vast majority of
the buildings around the square are European styled and many are protected monuments. The
square used to allow traffic and parking lots were present, with increasing number of
tourists the entire area was covered by Portuguese pavement in the early 1990s and
designated a pedestrian-only zone.
Many large events in Macau were hosted on the square, this include festival celebrations,
flea markets and performances. The governors of Macau also used to inspect their troops
there. A number of Hong Kong films in the 1950s and 1960s had scenes shot at the square. The
2005 100 patacas note issued by the Banco Nacional Ultramarino features the square on its
obverse side.
3. Leal Senado Building
The Leal Senado Building (Portuguese for Loyal Senate) was the seat of Portuguese Macau's
government (Legislative Assembly of Macau and Municipal Council of Macau). It is located at
one end of the Senado Square in São Lourenço, Macau, China. The title was bestowed on
Macau's government in 1810 by Portugal's Prince Regent João, who later became King John VI
of Portugal. This was a reward for Macau's loyalty to Portugal, which refused to recognise
Spain’s sovereignty during the Philippine Dynasty that it occupied Portugal, between 1580
and 1640. A plaque ordered by the king commemorating this can still be seen inside the
entrance hall.
A Chinese-style Pavilion used to stand on the site of Leal Senado building. That building
was then a meeting place for the Portuguese and the Chinese officials,and where the Ming
dynasty government would announce regulations to Macau. The Portuguese planned to buy the
pavilion as early as 1583, as well as some Chinese houses behind it. However, it wasn't
until 1784 that the Portuguese government finally purchased it at a price of 80,000
taels.
The Leal Senado building itself was built after the purchase, and became the center of
Macau's politics since then. Portuguese rallies and celebrations were also held here.
Although built in 1784, it was in a style similar to plain style from 14th- to 15th-century
Portugal than the Pombaline style that was popular at the time when the Leal Senado was
built. A number of institutions were affiliated to the building, including a museum of Luís
Vaz de Camões, a post office, a court and a prison, yet all had moved elsewhere.
It was completely refurbished in 1904. In 1936 the building was damaged again by another
typhoon. After the handover of Macau to China in 1999 it became the headquarters of the
Institute of Civic and Municipal Affairs. It became part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site
Historic Centre of Macau in 2005.
4. Wynn Macau
Wynn Palace (Chinese: 永利皇宮) is the second luxury integrated resort from international resort
developer Wynn Resorts in the Macau Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic
of China, following the launch of Wynn Macau. Located in the Cotai Strip area, it features a
28-story hotel with 1,706 exquisitely furnished rooms, suites and villas, versatile meeting
facilities, over 106,000 square feet (9,800 m2) of luxury retail, 11 casual and fine dining
restaurants, Macau's largest spa, a salon, a pool and approximately 420,000 square feet
(39,000 m2) of casino space. The resort also features a variety of entertainment
experiences, including the 8-acre Performance Lake with a choreographed display of water,
music and light, the unique SkyCab, spectacular, large-scale floral displays by renowned
designer Preston Bailey and an extensive collection of art works by some of the world's
leading artists. Wynn Resorts is the recipient of more Forbes Travel Guide Five Star Awards
than any other independent hotel company in the world. Wynn Palace is the first and only
resort in the world with more than one thousand rooms to receive Forbes Travel Guide Five
Star Awards. Wynn Palace opened on August 22, 2016
5. Handover Gift Museum of Macau
The Handover Gifts Museum of Macau (Chinese: 澳門回歸賀禮陳列館; Portuguese: Museu das Ofertas sobre
a Transferência de Soberania de Macau) is a museum to commemorate the transfer of
sovereignty over Macau in Sé, Macau, China.
The construction of the museum started in March 2003 and was completed in October 2004. The
museum was then officially opened on 30 December 2004.
6. The Venetian Macao
The Venetian Macao (Chinese: 澳門威尼斯人) is a luxury hotel and casino resort in Macau owned by
the American Las Vegas Sands company. The Venetian is a 39-story, casino hotel on the Cotai
Strip in Macau. The 10,500,000-square-foot (980,000 m2) Venetian Macau is modeled on its
sister casino resort The Venetian Las Vegas. The Venetian Macau is the largest casino in the
world, the largest single structure hotel building in Asia, and also the seventh-largest
building in the world by floor area. The main hotel tower was finished in July 2007 and the
resort officially opened on 28 August 2007. The resort has 3,000 suites, 1,200,000 sq ft
(110,000 m2) of convention space, 1,600,000 sq ft (150,000 m2) of retail, 550,000 square
feet (51,000 m2) of casino space – with 3,400 slot machines and 800 gambling tables and the
15,000-seat Cotai Arena for entertainment and sports events. The lead architect for the
Venetian Macau were Aedas and HKS, Inc. joint venture, who were responsible for the design,
coordination and implementation of the project on site.