History
The cornerstone of the Ruins of St. Paul's with the year of the foundation stone 1602The Ruins of St. Paul's are the front wall of the Church of the Mother of God (A lgreja da Madre de Deus) on St. Paul's Hill. It is integrated with the Fortress and the former St. Paul's College in between. The name "Samba" comes from the Portuguese word for "St. Paul's" (S?o Paulo), and "Da" means the largest church, so "Da Samba" means "the largest church". Founded in 1580, the church was destroyed by fire twice, in 1595 and 1601. In 1762, the Portuguese government confiscated the property of the Jesuits, and the Church of the Mother of God was converted into a dormitory for officers and a barracks; in January 1835, the church caught fire, and the front wall of the church was left. Since the front wall of the church resembles a traditional Chinese pagoda, locals call it the "Ruins of St. Paul's".
In the early 1990s, the government carried out an archaeological survey and restoration work on the site of St. Paul's Church, and discovered the ruins of the building behind the church and the graveyard where the clergy were buried. In 1996, the government built a Catholic Art Museum and a crypt at the site, displaying many valuable artifacts of the Church of Macau; at the same time, it also installed a staircase on the back of the Ruins of St. Paul's for tourists to visit, but the staircase's iron frames were inserted into the Ruins of St. Paul's structure, a move that drew the dissatisfaction of some heritage experts. The Ruins of St. Paul's were declared a World Heritage Site by the Portuguese and Macao governments before the handover, but the declaration was unsuccessful due to political and technical factors, and in 2005, the Chinese government successfully declared the Ruins of St. Paul's a World Heritage Site to UNESCO, making it part of the Historic Centre of Macao.
The Ruins of St. Paul's are 27 meters high, 23.5 meters wide, and the stone walls are 2.7 meters thick. They are built in an ornate style, combining European Renaissance and Oriental architectural styles. The front wall is made of hemp stone. There are 5 floors, and the left and right **** can be divided into 9 compartments from the 3rd floor. Front wall on the right side of a stone flagpole clip (the left side of the pair with a pair of no longer exists), under the 68-storey class, and the church is not consistent with the location, because of its construction towards the church on the right side of the front wall has been built in St. Paul's Seminary, so it must be distorted to accommodate.
Features
The first level: the uppermost level is a triangular mountain flower, on which there is a bronze dove symbolizing the Holy Spirit, and there are the sun, moon and stars on the left and right. There is a cross at the top.
The second level: in the center is the baby Jesus, surrounded by the instrument of crucifixion, and outwardly by four mixed pilasters, decorated with angels in shallow relief, with curved walls on both sides of the pilasters.
The third floor: in the center is the Assumption of the Virgin, with angels playing music, surrounded by peonies and chrysanthemums, symbolizing the Christian technicians from China and Japan. In the center of this level*** there are six mixed pilasters, with obelisks replacing the pilasters on both sides. The columns are decorated with light relief carvings. On the left is the Tree of Wisdom and a seven-winged dragon with a Madonna on top, flanked by the Chinese inscription "Our Lady of the Dragon's Head", while on the right, symmetrically positioned, is the Fountain of Life and a Western-style sailing boat with Our Lady of the Star of the Sea on top. Outside the group of columns is a curved buttress with a skull on the right side and the Chinese text "Remembering the dead is not a sin"; on the left side is a relief of a devil with the Chinese text "Ghosts are tempting people to do evil"; the two outermost walls of this level are made up of two domed obelisks, the left wall reproduces a dove, with an open door underneath; and on the right side is a crown pierced with arrows, with the door underneath closed and locked, which implies that faith rather than power is the way of the Kingdom of Heaven. On the side of the wall there is a lion with a big mouth in the shape of a Chinese lion dance; it is used for dripping water.
The fourth floor: consists of 10 Corinthian columns and 3 windows, the lintels of which are decorated with seven roses in relief, the center window is decorated with palm trees between the two columns on the side, and there are niches symmetrically located between the columns on both sides of the side window openings, dedicated to the 4 bronze Jesuit saints, which are the products of the cannon factory of Macao in the early years.
Fifth floor: the lowest floor of the pagoda has 3 entrances and 10 Ionic columns supporting and decorating the walls, 3 on each side of the main entrance and 2 on each side of the side entrances; the main entrance is inscribed with the Latin phrase "MATER DEI" (meaning Mother of God). The lintel of the side entrance has a relief design of the Jesuit emblem "IHS".
As the Ruins of St. Paul's is one of Macau's landmarks, it is regularly inspected and restored by the government. During the latest restoration work, in order to ensure that the Ruins of St. Paul's are visible to tourists, the authorities followed the European practice and designed a large canvas, which is hung at the bottom of the engineering grill, with the actual pattern of the Ruins of St. Paul's at the bottom of the canvas, so as to make it easier for tourists to take photos. In addition, due to the humid climate of Macau, the seeds of plants floating in the wind can easily get stuck in the cracks of the stone walls of the Ruins and grow into weeds, the roots of which can damage the structure of the Ruins, so the authorities will regularly send people to remove the weeds in order to restore the Ruins to their original appearance.
In addition, the Ruins of St. Paul's is a tourist hotspot where many different events such as the open-air concerts of the Macau International Music Festival, the Fringe Parade and the Macau International Youth Dance Festival take place, as well as the neighboring Jesuit Memorial Square. On the occasion of the Pope's Birthday, a traditional Chinese-style pagoda is erected next to the Ruins of St. Paul's, creating a strong contrast between the East and the West.
The Ruins of St. Paul's are featured on the MOP$5 coin. The name of St. Paul's has also been used for Pacific tropical cyclones since 2008, replacing "The Pearl".