Ruins of St. Paul 大三巴牌坊 – Macau, China

   
        Being a foreign student overseas is really a fun thing. Firstly, I can stay in that country for a long time because of the student visa, and secondly, I can use my free time to explore the interesting places. Studying in China for one year has given me numerous adventure experiences. During my second semester in Guangzhou just several weeks before my returning to Indonesia, my friends suddenly asked me to join with them to go to Macau. Living in Guangzhou is very convenient and practical because you can travel easily to its neighboring cities like Shenzhen, Hong Kong and Macau. This time let's join me explore Macau...

        Macau is a small city with thriving economy due to its world-class gambling business. Many people visit Macau to gamble with a hope to bring home a large amount of money. And many of them also go bankrupt because of their debts. So, do not gamble my friends or your life will be miserable.

        Early in the morning, I and my friends set off to Macau by bus. We went to Guangzhou Railway Station and ordered the ticket bus. We took the Zhuhai route. The bus ticket was only RMB 40 per person, quite cheap compared to travel from Hong Kong or Shenzhen. The journey only took about two hours. We then had to go through the immigration to have our passport checked. Although Macau is still part of China, it has its own administrative system including currency and governing system. In the past, the city was occupied by Portuguese, but then handed back to the Mother Land. People in Macau speak various languages starting from Mandarin, English and Spanish. Just like Hong Kong, you do not need visa to enter it.

 

       

        As soon as we stepped our feet on Macau, the first thing to do was going to the hotel to put our luggage. My friends had booked the hotel before. Actually most hotels in Macau are pricey, but this time, there were eight of us sleeping together in one room. The price then was divided among us, quite cheap only 50 dollars per person... Hahaha... What a smart way to get in a five-star hotel. After we checked in, we started to explore Macau. Although we were not familiar with the places, we dared ourselves to have the adventure. First, we visited the most famous landmark in Macau called the Ruins of St. Paul. From its name, you might already have a picture of how it looks like. Yes, indeed it is a ruin of a church dedicated to Paul, one of Jesus' apostles.

        Anyone who travels to Macau must visit the icon of the city, which is the ruins of St. Paul. Just as the name suggests, the structure is just the remaining facade of the ruins of once the largest Catholic church in East Asia. The structure was originally a cathedral dedicated to Paul, one of Jesus’ apostles. The church was first established in 1580, however fire devoured it twice in 1591 and 1601. In 1602, the Jesuits reconstructed the building which finished in 1637. Since then, the church became the largest Catholic church in East Asia. At that time, the royal Europeans competed to bestow the best gifts upon it. Adjacent to the church, they also built the Jesuit College of St. Paul's, the first Western college in the Far East where missionaries such as Matteo Ricci and Adam Schall studied Chinese before serving at the Ming Court in Beijing as astronomers and mathematicians. After the Jesuits were expelled from the area, the college was used as an army barracks. In 1835, the kitchen caught fire and with the help of a violent typhoon, it spread to the college and finally the total body of the church. According to early travelers’ chronicles, the church was made of taipa and wood and beautifully decorated and furnished. Because of its wooden materials, it was totally burnt down to the ground and left its glory to history. Only the southern front facade and the grand stone stairs were left.

 

Ruins of St. Paul and grand stone stairs. The Ruins of St. Paul is always crowded with visitors from local and abroad. It was quite impossible to get picture of the structure solely without having any person as the background. hahaha….

 

 

The tiers of the front facade

     Also known as Sam Ba Sing Tzik or Great Sanba Archway, the remaining front wall is made of white stones and granite which is resistant to fire. Located on a small hill with 66 steps leading to it, the structure is adjacent to the Mount Fortress and Macau Museum. The facade was carved by the Japanese exiles escaping religious persecutions in Nagasaki and the local craftsmen under the direction of Italian Jesuit Carlo Spinola. Having a Renaissance baroque facade with many ornaments and classical characteristics, the facade consists of five tiers. The first tier has ten ionic columns with three entrances. In the middle of the first tier, the word “Mater Dei” is inscribed. On the second tier, there are ten Corinthian columns with three windows and a Catholic saint placed in each of four tabernacles between columns. The two tiers represent Jesus’ community and missionaries’ activities. The other three tiers are the most decorated. In the middle of the third tier, the statue of Madonna is enshrined. In the fourth tier, the statue of Jesus is placed including the symbols of the crucifixion tools. The walls are decorated with bas-reliefs in various patterns such as devils, angels, crucifixion symbols, a Portuguese sailing ship, etc. There are stone lions at the edge of the third and fourth tiers which are distinctively Chinese. The upper three tiers create a triangular combination which stands for the Holy Trinity (the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit). On top of the wall, a cross of Jerusalem stands magnificently and a bronze dove with outstretched wings is beautifully carved under it. The symbols and images on the facade show a perfect combination of Western and Eastern cultures. No wonder, the front wall was enlisted as part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Historic Center of Macau.

The “Mater Dei” Inscription on the facade of the Ruins of St. Paul

 

 

The concrete steel at the back of the facade

      The facade measures 27 meters tall, 23 meters wide and 2.7 meters thick. At first, the structure was planned to be destroyed because it seemed about to topple. However, it was turned by the Macanese government into a museum in 1990 and 1995. The Museum of Sacred Art and Crypt was built at that time that displays the relics of Japanese and Vietnamese martyrs. At the present time, it is buttressed with concrete steel. From the rear, there is a steel stairway that allows visitors to climb up to the top of the facade. It is said that if you throw coins into the top window of the ruins from the stairs you will have good luck.    

 

There are many visitors who climb up the steel stairway to the top of the facade from the back.

        Nowadays, the front wall functions as the city’s altar where many music performances are held with its stairs as a natural backstage. Although the magnificent church remains a history, but the real church that resides in the body of each Jesus’ follower will never die away. The spirit to spread the good news and to save the lost will always be at the center of the heart of every believer who truly loves the Lord Jesus.

Sources:

Personal experience and additional information from other online articles