Macao big 38 memorial archway

St Paul's archway is the witness of western civilization entering the history of China. 1583, Matteo Ricci, a famous missionary, changed the map of the world to the map of the world here, added a Chinese logo and sent it to the local government of China. 1569, St. Ghazaxi Hospital was built near St. Paul's Cathedral, and western medicine and western medicine began to flow into China. Portuguese doctor Gomez also introduced "vaccination" from Macau to China to cure the incurable smallpox at that time. Sao Paulo College near Sao Paulo is the earliest western-style university in East Asia. While carrying out western education, it also trains missionaries who are about to enter the East. After Macao's return to China, thousands of people from all walks of life in Macao gathered here almost every day to sing in the towering St. Paul's Archway Square and Stone Square. After more than 400 years of vicissitudes, the grand March 8th ushered in her brilliant new life and witnessed the tortuous return of Macao.

More than 400 years ago, the Portuguese invaded Macao and brought Catholicism to Macao. 1562, the Portuguese built this gothic church in Macao after several years and named it "St. Paul's Church". The pronunciation of Portuguese "Sao Paulo" is close to the pronunciation of "March 8" in the local dialect, so it is also called "March 8 Church". Later, the church was destroyed by fire twice. 1602, St. Paul's church was rebuilt again, and it was completed in 1637 35 years later. /kloc-a fire in 0/835 destroyed the church again, leaving only the front wall costing 32,000 silver, which became today's St. Paul's archway.

This church was originally designed by an Italian Jesuit priest and built with the technical assistance of Japanese craftsmen. 1602 laid the foundation stone, 1637 was fully completed, and the long stone steps in front of the church were later completed.

St. Paul's Church was the largest Catholic church in the East at that time, known as the "Vatican of the East" and affiliated to St. Paul's College. The college is the first western-style university in the Far East. From the establishment of 1594 to the end of 1762, many foreign missionaries came to China to learn Chinese, which made the college an important missionary base for these missionaries to enter China and played an unparalleled role in promoting religious and cultural exchanges between Europe and China.

St Paul's archway, which is adjacent to the Big Battery and the Macau Museum, has a history of more than 350 years. It is the most familiar symbol of Macao and the remains of the front wall of St. Paul's church. "March 8th" is a transliteration of "Sao Paulo", and it is called the March 8th archway because the remains of the front wall of the church look like the traditional archway in China. The cost of St. Paul's archway was as high as 32 thousand silver 300 years ago, which was extremely precious and famous in Southeast Asia at that time. Later, it was burned twice in 1595 and 160 1. The third construction of the church was designed by Italian Jesuit priest Spinola. The foundation stone was laid in 1602 and completed in 1635, which lasted for 33 years. It was the largest Catholic stone church in the Far East at that time. Later, it was destroyed by fire again in 1835, leaving only 68 stone steps in front of the church and the front wall made of granite, which was named "St. Paul's Arch" because it looked like the China Arch. 1990 Archaeological investigation was carried out at the beginning of the year, and the architectural sites at that time were discovered, which are now on display together with some Macao church cultural relics. Before the reunification, the Australian and Portuguese governments tried to declare the archway as a world cultural heritage, but failed due to political and technical factors. In 2005, the China government successfully declared the World Cultural Heritage to UNESCO, and the St. Paul Archway became a part of the historic city of Macau. Although the St. Paul archway has lost the actual function of the church, it is closely related to the life of Macao people. Various cultural activities are held here from time to time, and the long steps in front of the archway just become natural seats, which makes the archway suddenly become a huge set and a natural stage.

After visiting the archway, you can go to the Catholic Art Museum in the inner square. The museum has a collection of representative paintings and sculptures of churches and monasteries in Macao, the most precious of which is a batch of oil paintings with the theme of religious life. This is the first batch of paintings in the Far East and the oldest oil painting in the East. The grave next door contains the remains of Japanese and Vietnamese martyrs and shows the religious history of Macao. When visiting the St. Paul archway, we should not only appreciate the majestic front wall, but also pay attention to the exquisite relief and its meaning on the archway (front wall).

The archway is about 27 meters high and 23.5 meters wide. It is a baroque architecture in Italian Renaissance. It is divided into five layers. The bottom two layers are also rectangular, and the triangular pyramid consists of three to five layers. There is a "cross" bracket at the top, and a bronze pigeon symbolizing the Holy Spirit is embedded below; The bronze pigeon statue is surrounded by stone carvings of the sun, moon and stars, symbolizing the moment when the virgin is pregnant; Under the bronze pigeon is a baby statue, with an "immortal fire" statue on the upper left and a "tree of life" stone carving on the right; There is a statue of the Virgin Mary in the middle of the third floor, surrounded by peony and chrysanthemum, the former representing China and the latter representing Japanese; On the left side of the statue is also engraved "Eternal Man". A "Portuguese sailboat" and a "fierce devil"; The fourth floor is a statue of four saints dedicated to Jesus; On the left and right sides of the third and fourth floors, the lion, a symbol of China's traditional culture and art, is carved; On the ground floor, there are three doors. The lintel of the main entrance is engraved with "MATERDEL", which means "Mother of God" in Portuguese, and the signs of Jesus are engraved on the doors on both sides. All kinds of statues on the St. Paul archway are lifelike, which not only retains the tradition, but also is more innovative; It not only shows the architectural style of Europe, but also inherits the cultural tradition of the East, and embodies the characteristics of the combination of Chinese and Western. It can be called "three-dimensional Bible" and is a famous stone carving religious building in the Far East.

This church has a pretentious style. The front wall is made of granite. Up and down 5 floors, left and right * * * can be divided into 9 grids from the third floor. There is a stone flagpole clip on the right side of the front wall (the pair on the left no longer exists), and there are 68 classes below, which is not in line with the position of the church. On the first floor is a triangular mountain flower, with a bronze dove symbolizing the Holy Spirit, with the sun, moon and stars on the left and right. There is a cross at the top.

In the middle of the second floor is little Jesus, surrounded by instruments of torture that crucified him. It consists of four mixed pilasters, with angel bas-relief in the middle and arc gables on both sides. In the center of the third floor, the Virgin Mary ascended to heaven, and angels played music to celebrate, surrounded by peonies and chrysanthemums (symbolizing Christian technicians in China and Japan).

The fourth floor consists of 10 Corinthian column and three windows. The lintel is decorated with seven roses in relief, the middle window is decorated with palm trees, and niches are symmetrically arranged between the columns on both sides of the side window hole to worship the four saints. The fifth-floor archway has three entrances and 10 supporting and decorative walls, three on each side of the main entrance and two on each side of the side door. Italy's "MATER DEI" is written at the main entrance (meaning this church is dedicated to the mother of God, which means the door to heaven). The lintel of the side door has a relief pattern of the Jesuit slogan IHS (meaning the savior of mankind).

There are many western-style Catholic churches in Macao, among which St. Paul's church is the oldest and most famous, and people are used to calling it "II"

Ba. "St. Paul's Church was built in 1637, and it was the largest Catholic church in the east at that time. Located on the hill near Daba Street in Macau, this scenic spot is a relic of the front wall of St. Paul's Church and a scenic spot in Macau. This church has an indissoluble bond with fire. From the embryonic form to the only remaining former archway, it has experienced three fires and been built again and again, witnessing the history of Macao. 1835 65438+1On the evening of October 26th, St. Paul's Church was destroyed by fire, leaving only the front wall. Because its shape is similar to the traditional memorial archway in China, it is named "Big March 8th Memorial Archway".

When visiting the St. Paul archway, you should not only appreciate the majestic front wall, but also ponder over the exquisite relief on the wall and its significance. Step by step from the top of the archway, there is a tall cross, which is divided into three layers. There is a bronze statue of 1 in each niche, which was cast by Macau Gun Factory in the early years. Under the cross is a bronze statue of 1 dove, which is said to represent the Holy Spirit. The statue is surrounded by stone carvings of the sun, moon and stars, symbolizing the moment when the Virgin is pregnant. Under the bronze pigeon is a statue of 1 baby Jesus.

Now, the Sao Paulo archway has become one of the symbols of Macao, and it is also a must-see place for tourists to visit Macao. Many Macao people like to leave wedding photos here as a souvenir when they get married.