The Historic Center of Macao

Appraisal

"The Historic Center of Macao" includes the oldest Western architectural heritage on Chinese soil today. Together with Macao's traditional Chinese architecture, it stands witness to successful East-West cultural pluralism and architectural traditions.

"The Historic Center of Macao" is solid testimony of the city's missionary role in the Far East while also reflecting the dissemination of Chinese folk beliefs to the Western world.

"The Historic Center of Macao" is the product of East-West cultural exchanges, constituting the most unique blend of cultural heritage existing in China's historic cities.

"The Historic Center of Macao" presents a complete social infrastructure that has encompassed and sustained the living traditions of different cultures.

History

Macao, a lucrative port of strategic importance in the development of international trade, was under Portuguese administration from the mid-16th century until 1999 when it came under Chinese sovereignty.

The emergence of Macao with its dual function as a gateway into China, and as Ming China's window onto the world, reflected a relaxation of certain restrictions combined with a degree of open-mindedness that offered a creative way to supplement China's vassal-state trading system and marked a turning point in the history of both China and Europe.

The settlement of Macao by Portuguese navigators in the mid-16th century laid the basis for nearly five centuries of uninterrupted contact between East and West. The origins of Macao's development into an international trading port make it the single most consistent example of cultural interchange between Europe and Asia.

For almost three centuries, until the colonization of Hong Kong in 1842, Macao's strategic location at the mouth of the Pearl River meant that it retained a unique position in the South China Sea, serving as the hub in a complex network of maritime trade that brought tremendous wealth and a constant flow of people into the enclave.