Freguesia de Nossa Senhora do Carmo is a
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...
in
Macao Special Administrative Region
Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a popu ...
. The major part of the freguesia is located in
Taipa
Taipa ( zh, t=氹仔, ; pt, Taipa, ) was a former island in Macau, presently united with the island of Coloane by reclaimed land known as Cotai. Administratively, the boundaries of the traditional civil parish Freguesia de Nossa Senhora do Ca ...
but it runs through to
Hengqin Island
Hengqin (, pt, Ilha da Montanha) is an island in Zhuhai, a prefecture-level city and special economic zone in Guangdong Province of the People's Republic of China. It has a population of about 3,000. Parts of Hengqin were leased to Macau by the ...
in
mainland China
"Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...
. The freguesia is named after the
Igreja de Nossa Senhora do Carmo. It is the largest freguesia in Macau with an area of 7.9 square kilometers.
History and Geography
It is a common misconception that Freguesia de Nossa Senhora do Carmo equals Taipa. When Macau was still under the colonial rule of
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
, there were no freguesias defined on the islands of
Taipa
Taipa ( zh, t=氹仔, ; pt, Taipa, ) was a former island in Macau, presently united with the island of Coloane by reclaimed land known as Cotai. Administratively, the boundaries of the traditional civil parish Freguesia de Nossa Senhora do Ca ...
and
Coloane
Coloane (Cantonese: Lou Wan) is a former island in Macau that is united with the island of Taipa by an area of reclaimed land known as Cotai. It is located at the southern part of Macau. Administratively, the boundaries of the traditional civil pa ...
by the
Portuguese Macau
Portuguese Macau (officially the Province of Macau until 1976, and then the Autonomous Region of Macau from 1976 to 1999) was a Portuguese Empire, Portuguese colony that existed from the first official Portuguese settlement in 1557 to the ...
government, but the
Diocese of Macau
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Macau ( pt, 1=Diocese de Macau; ) is an exempt (i.e. an immediate subject of the Holy See and not part of any ecclesiastical province) Latin Rite diocese of the Catholic Church, in contrast with the Roman Catholic Di ...
established the Paróquia de Nossa Senhora do Carmo (Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish), covering Taipa Island. The delineation of the freguesia is later adopted by the government from the name of the existing parish. Several reclamations were carried out along the coast of Taipa Island through different periods; the freguesia now not just only includes the area of Taipa, but is further expanded to an island called , which houses the control tower of
Macau International Airport
Macau International Airport ( zh, 澳門國際機場; pt, Aeroporto Internacional de Macau) is an international airport in the special administrative region of Macau, situated at the eastern end of Taipa island and neighbouring waters whic ...
. In 2013, the
University of Macau
The University of Macau (UM; Portuguese: ''Universidade de Macau'', Chinese: 澳門大學) is an internationalised public comprehensive university in Macau. The UM campus is located in the east of Hengqin Island, Guangdong province in Mainland ...
was moved from Taipa to a new campus on
Hengqin
Hengqin (, pt, Ilha da Montanha) is an island in Zhuhai, a prefecture-level city and Special economic zones of China, special economic zone in Guangdong, Guangdong Province of the China, People's Republic of China. It has a population of about ...
( pt, Ilha da Montanha). The campus area applies
Macau Law
Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a popu ...
and is included in the freguesia, yet the island is owned by
Zhuhai
Zhuhai (, ; Yale: ''Jyūhói''), also known as Chuhai is a prefecture-level city located on the west bank of Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern Guangdong province, People's Republic of China, on the southeastern edge of Pearl ...
.
The southern boundary of the freguesia is the road of Estrada da Baía de Nossa Senhora da Esperança, the reclaimed land south of the road, although commonly treated as a part of Taipa, belongs to
Zona do Aterro de Cotai
The red-tailed silverside, or zona (''Bedotia geayi'') is a species of Madagascar rainbowfish endemic to the Mananjary River drainage in Madagascar. It is threatened by habitat loss and introduced species. It has often been confused with the rel ...
and it does not belong to any part of Macau's freguesia.
See also
*
Our Lady of Carmel Church, Macau
*
Municipality of Ilhas
References
External links
Official site of the Catholic Diocese of Macau
{{Macau Freguesias
Macau