St. Andoni Church

St. Andoni Church

St. Andoni church, located opposite the white dove Nest Park in Macao, was built in 1558 by the Jesuit Church. It is one of the three ancient churches in Macao and is a part of the World Cultural Heritage Macao's historical city.

The history of St. Antony's church has been simply recorded on the decorative panels in front of the church door: it was built in 1608, burned in 1809, burned again in 1874 and built in 1875.

Because Saint Antony is the God of "marriage protector" worshipped by Catholics, this church is commonly known as "flower king church", which became its present appearance after its reconstruction in 1930.

Historical evolution

Founded between 1558 and 1560, St. Antony's church was a primitive thatched chapel.

The Church of sant'andoni has been burned many times. See the contents engraved in Portuguese on the stone tablet in front of the door. The translation reads: "the church was built in 1638, destroyed in 1809, rebuilt in 1810, destroyed again in 1874 and rebuilt in 1875." In particular, the fire on September 22, 1874 is unforgettable. Since then, September 22, which is called "natural disaster day" by Macao people, citizens carry the statue of sant'andoni to the streets to commemorate.

In 1930, the bell tower and main facade of the church were rebuilt. In 1951 and 1953, the interior of the church, especially the altar, was decorated twice.

In the past, Portuguese weddings were mostly held in St. Antony's church, so Chinese call it "flower king hall". According to the records of Macao, there is a temple in the north corner, where the Tibetan men and women are happy with each other, and the monks get together for Buji after they have completed their vows to the gods. It is called huawang temple

Architectural features

spatial distribution

The layout of St. Antony's Church adapts to local conditions, the plane is asymmetric, accommodating the surrounding road environment. Because of the limited space, only one bell tower is built, resulting in asymmetric facade form and asymmetric volume relationship. The small streets and alleys leading to the huawang hall are all climbing slopes, and the front space of the entrance also needs to step up several steps. It can be seen that the huawang hall was consciously built on the high ground. The front ground is surrounded by a low wall, a cross to show the religious nature, and a stone tablet close to the ground to arouse the Pilgrims' nostalgia for ancient times.

Architectural appearance

The exterior of St. Antony's church is a water brush and stone powder surface rebuilt in 1930. The main facade is asymmetric. There is only a bell tower on the left side, which is mainly in horizontal lines, highlighting the main entrance in the center. The mountain flowers are decorated with sacred statues. The clock tower has three floors and is about 22 meters high.

In a word, the facade of St. Andoni church is decorated with modern brushstone, with simple form, reflecting the style of neoclassicism.

Interior features

The interior of St. Antony's church is made of brick and wood, with oval wooden arch, sloping roof and tile roof. The sandwich floor is a reinforced concrete structure. The layout is mainly a rectangular middle hall, with a interlayer, about 15 meters high; there is no column corridor barrier, with a wooden vault, and gorgeous branch shaped chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. The altar in the hall is a baroque altar built in 1875, in the form of broken mountain flowers and double columns, with a statue of Jesus nailed to the cross in the middle and the Jesuit logo IHS on it. There are also many small prayer rooms in the hall, which are exquisitely decorated and have pilasters. The main altar is majestic and gorgeous, reflecting baroque style: scattered eaves, broken and twisted mountain flowers, complex and curved lines and multiple pilasters, which set off the performance theme of Catholicism - the crucifixion of Jesus and the symbol of Jesuits with profound meaning. The wall is divided by pilasters and decorated with arches. The ceiling and the wall are distinguished and outlined by the teeth. The interior color is yellow and decorated with white, that is, the wall and vault are painted with yellow paint, and the column head and thread base are painted with white paint. The colored glass windows and entrance screens of the choir at the back of the church are all geometrically designed, revealing a modern flavor.

Address: No.65, Nonglin Road, Futian District, Shenzhen

Longitude: 114.01431120932

Latitude: 22.54421295093

Tel: 0755-83500887

Ticket information: free.