St. Paul's Cathedral ruins (1602)

Asian Historical Architecture The most dramatic symbol of Macau is the towering facade of the Jesuit church of the Mother of God (Madre de Deus), commonly known as St. Paul's (Sao Paulo). This was the church of the adjoining St. Paul's college, the first western college in east Asia--where the noted Jesuits Matteo Ricci and Adam Schall and other studied. Designed by an Italian and built by Japanese craftsmen beginning in 1602, its stunning Spanish-style retable-facade with four colonnaded tiers, made it the grandest Christian edifice in Asia. A fire that started in the kitchen of the college in 1835, however, destroyed both the college and the church, so that all that remains today is the facade with its marvelous statues and reliefs.