The Senado Square, or Senate Square (; pt, Largo do Senado), is a paved

town square A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true square, geometric square, used for community gathe ...

in Sé,

Macau 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 pop ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, and part of the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

Historic Centre of Macau The Historic Centre of Macao, pt, Centro Histórico de Macau, , is a collection of over twenty locations that witness the unique assimilation and co-existence of Chinese and Portuguese cultures in Macau, a former Portuguese colony. It represents ...

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

. It is an elongated triangular shaped square and connects Largo do São Domingos at one end and

Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro (), also commonly known as San Ma Lo (; "new street"), is the main avenue in the heart of Macau Peninsula. The 620 metres long avenue was laid out in 1920 and it extends from the Inner to the Outer harbour, passing thro ...

on the other. It covers an area of 3,700 square meters (4,425 square yards)

History

The square was named after the Leal Senado, a meeting place for the Chinese and Portuguese in the 16th to 18th centuries, located directly in front of the square, where

Leal Senado Building The Leal Senado Building (Portuguese for ''Loyal Senate'') was the seat of Portuguese Macau's government (Legislative Assembly of Macau and Municipal Council of Macau). It is located at one end of the Senado Square in São Lourenço, Macau, ...

stands today. In 1940, a small garden was built at the centre of the square, featuring a bronze statue of

Vicente Nicolau de Mesquita Vicente Nicolau de Mesquita (July 9, 1818 in São Lourenço, Portuguese Macau – March 20, 1880 in São Lourenço, Portuguese Macau) was an officer of the Portuguese Army in Macau. He is widely remembered for his role at the Portuguese at ...

standing above a stone pillar pulling out a sword. The statue was pulled down in the

12-3 incident The 12-3 incident ( zh, c=一二·三事件; pt, Motim 1-2-3) refers to political demonstrations and rioting against Portuguese rule in Macau that occurred on 3 December 1966. The incident, inspired by the Cultural Revolution in the People's R ...

as Mesquita was responsible for the deaths of many Qing Chinese soldiers. A fountain was built at its site and still stands today. Vast majority of the buildings around the square are European styled and many are protected monuments. The square used to allow traffic and parking lots were present, with increasing number of tourists the entire area was covered by

Portuguese pavement Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

in the early 1990s and designated a pedestrian-only zone. Many large events in Macau were hosted on the square, this include festival celebrations, flea markets and performances. The governors of Macau also used to inspect their troops there. A number of Hong Kong films in the 1950s and 1960s had scenes shot at the square. The 2005 100 patacas note issued by the

Banco Nacional Ultramarino Banco Nacional Ultramarino (, BNU; ; en, National Overseas Bank) is a Macau banking and financial services corporation. It was a Portuguese bank with operations throughout the world, especially in Portugal's former overseas provinces. It ceased e ...

features the square on its obverse side.

Buildings around the square

Holy House of Mercy The Holy House of Mercy of Macau ( pt, Santa Casa da Misericórdia; ), is a historic building in Senado Square, Macau, China. Established as a branch of the Santa Casa da Misericórdia, it was first built in 1569 on the orders of the Roman Cath ...

Hotel Central Hotel Central () is an 11-storey hotel on Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro in Sé, Macau. Historically it has also been known as President Hotel (). The building was 6 storeys tall in 1928 but, after 5 more floors were added in 1942, became the ta ...

Macau General Post Office The Macau General Post Office (; pt, Edificio Sede dos CTT) is a 3-storey building at the intersection of Senado Square and Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro in Sé, Macau, China. The current building was built in 1929. See also * CTT (Macau) ...

References

External links

* Squares in Macau Historic Centre of Macau {{Macau-geo-stub