St Paul's Cathedral was built in the 17th century by Christians exiled from Japan and Jesuit monks. At the time, this cathedral was the largest of all Christian churches in Asia. As a monument to the history of the collision, connection and penetration of such different and dissimilar cultures as Eastern and Western cultures during the Portuguese colonisation of Asia, the ruins of this, at the time, the largest cathedral. The ruins are still one of the main attractions in Macau today.
This majestic temple with its pompous staircase and noble facade has been preserved better than any other monument from the Catholic era in Asia. A marvellously beautiful and fascinatingly grandiose panorama of the façade of St Paul's Cathedral can be seen from the fortress.
In the mid-nineteenth century, the cathedral, along with the college built in 1594 in the neighbourhood, was destroyed by fire. Only the staircase to the wall with empty openings instead of windows and the southern facade remained intact, which are being systematically restored.
The former appearance of the cathedral was not restored. Italian master Carlo Spinola decorated the façade, which survived the fire, with exquisite sculptural compositions. For future generations were preserved and miraculously survived crypt with tombs, and the nave, which now serves as a museum, telling about the unrealised plans to recreate the entire cathedral with its rich history.
Initially, the temple was led to three entrances with columns. The temple itself featured images of the Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ, on the third and fourth tiers, respectively. A gallery painted with images of saints and angels leads to the top floor of the cathedral.
In keeping with the architectural traditions of the time, St Paul's Cathedral was built of wood, then brightly and richly decorated. The carved stone for the facade was made by local and Japanese craftsmen. The city's national museum holds fragments of stone sculptures from the cathedral.
The ruins of St Paul's Cathedral, a temple that is an architectural testament to the penetration of Christianity into China, were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005.
