After visiting Fisherman’s Wharf, we took a minibus to its last stop to walk around the Historic Center of Macau. The Historic Center of Macau is an urban area within the old city of Macau spanning eight squares and 22 historic buildings. They include archaeological remains, buildings that are still functioning according to their original purpose, and examples of late Qing merchants’ homes.
The Historic Center of Macau is the product of cultural exchange between East and West spanning over 400 years, and is currently the oldest, the most complete and consolidated array of European architectural legacy standing intact on Chinese territory today.
The first place we went to was Camoes Square which is a little garden that has some greenery and benches where locals relax. See pic below.
Right next to the square is the Old Protestant Cemetery. Originally named the East India Company Cemetery, it was Macau’s first protestant cemetery. The chapel, built in 1821, is now referred to as ‘the Morrison Chapel’ in honor of missionary Robert Morrison (1782-1834) who is the author of the first Chinese-English Dictionary and the first translation of the Bible into Chinese and the chapel was built in response to a lack of burial sites for Protestants in the Roman Catholic Portuguese colony. There are over 150 tombs and hundreds are buried here, including Protestants from Britain, USA, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, and the Netherlands as well as officials from the East India Company. Several graves were moved from other locations outside the city walls into the cemetery, explaining why some graves are dated before its founding in 1821. Nationals of Britain, the United States of America, Holland, Denmark, Sweden and Germany are buried there. The cemetery was closed in 1858, after which the cemetery began to be referred to as the "Old" Protestant Cemetery.
The Protestant Cemetery occupies an area of approximately 2,800 square meters. The cemetery is divided into two levels: the upper level and the lower level. The tombstones are made of granite in general, differing in size, in style and design. See pics below.
This is Duke. The architecture definitely looks Spanish like one sees in the old west.
ReplyDeletehow absolutely charming. first of all, it is so important to have the Protestants addressed among the Roman Catholic Portuguese. Made worse by being in China. I applaud the government for allowing the East India Co. the wherewith all to put in the cemetery. One can only study history to know the powerful influence of this company. Very charming and humble little church and cemetery yard. The missionary and his two important works is much to be applauded for. Very charming little post.
ReplyDeletei agree, very charming & pretty little church. liked it a lot. really enjoyed visiting it, esp during qingming festival. i saw lots of american graves which made me proud. they would prob be turning over knowing that i took pics of their graves 160+ years later. i saw one tombstone that said a young girl in her '20s was murdered; creepy, it was sometime in the 1800s...
Deletei'm having internet (china) problems...so cannot make a new post at this time...maybe tom...
very pretty church!
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