Ruins of St. Paul's

성 바울 성당 유적

The Ruins of St. Paul's are what is left of a big 17th-century Catholic church and college in Macau, a city on the south coast of China. Today only the tall stone front wall, called the facade, still stands, high on a small hill.

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At a glance

Country: Macao SAR China
Location: Macau
Built: 1640
Height: 27 m
Type: Religious building

Quick answers

Where is Ruins of St. Paul's?

Ruins of St. Paul's is in Macau, Macao SAR China.

When was Ruins of St. Paul's built?

Ruins of St. Paul's was built in 1640.

How tall is Ruins of St. Paul's?

Ruins of St. Paul's is about 27 m tall.

The stone facade surviving from a 17th-century church destroyed by fire, the symbol of Macau.

Jesuit priests built the church between 1602 and 1640, and at the time it was one of the largest Catholic churches in Asia. The ruins are one of Macau's best-known landmarks. They are part of the Historic Centre of Macau, which UNESCO named a World Heritage Site in 2005, and in 2010 the Portuguese government listed them among the Seven Wonders of Portuguese Origin in the World.

What happened to the church?

A fire swept through the church during a typhoon on 26 January 1835. Everything burned except the stone facade, which was left standing like a giant stage backdrop. The facade is shaped like a retable, the carved panel that rises behind an altar, and it is themed around the Assumption of Mary. Stone steps climb to it from the street, 68 of them, and behind the wall a museum now tells the story of the site.

Why does it look so unusual?

The carvings mix European and Asian ideas. Japanese Christian craftsmen who had been forced out of Japan are thought to have worked on it, and one panel shows Mary standing on a seven-headed monster with Chinese characters beside it. Six stone guardian lions, a familiar Chinese symbol, guard the base. From 1990 to 1995 workers dug up the crypt and foundations, then braced the leaning wall with hidden concrete and steel.

Fun facts

The church burned down in 1835, leaving only its stone front wall.
Visitors can no longer climb to the top of the facade, because the old steel stairway at the back was removed to protect it.
The facade stands at the top of 68 stone steps.
Archaeologists found the crypt and foundations in the 1990s, which showed what the whole church once looked like.