Macau Government House (; pt, Palacete de Santa Sancha) or Santa Sancha is a building in São Lourenço,

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 ...

. It is the state guest house of the

Chief Executive of Macau The Chief Executive of the Macao Special Administrative Region (; pt, Chefe do Executivo da Região Administrativa Especial de Macau) is the head of government of Macau, a special administrative region of China. The position replaced the o ...

. It is one of a few historic properties preserving Portuguese influence in Macau. Like many historic buildings it is clad in a pink like colour.

History

Prior to December 1999, the home was the official residence of the

governor of Macau The governor of Macau ( pt, Governador de Macau; ) was a Portuguese colonial official who headed the colony of Macau, before 1623 called captain-major ( pt, Capitão-mor). The post was replaced on 20 December 1999 upon the transfer of sove ...

since 1937. Its first resident during Portuguese rule was Artur Tamagnini de Sousa Barbosa (巴波沙). Built in 1846 as a private home by Macanese architect Thomaz de Aquino, it was acquired by the Macau Government in 1926 and finally became the official residence replacing the

Macau Government Headquarters The Macau Government Headquarters (; pt, Sede do Governo da Região Administrativa Especial de Macau da República Popular da China), formerly Governor's Palace ( pt, Palácio do Governador) is the official office of the Chief Executive of Maca ...

, which then served as the Governor's office until 1999. Government House is now a state guest house.Santa Sancha Palace, Macau
The building is an example of

Pombaline style The Pombaline style was a Portuguese architectural style of the 18th century, named after Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, the first Marquês de Pombal, who was instrumental in reconstructing Lisbon after the earthquake of 1755. Pombal super ...

popular in Macau and Portugal in the 18th and 19th Century.

Location

The home is built on a plateau (and foothills of Barra Hill) overlooking

Sai Van Lake Sai Van Lake (; pt, Lago Sai Van) is a man-made lake in Sé, Macau. It is one of two man made lakes in Macau. It is located at the southern tip of Macau Peninsula. The lake was once a bay and closed off by infill. Sai Van means ''West Bay''. S ...

and bounded by private homes on several roads (Estrada de Santa Sancha, Estrada da Penha, Calçada da Praia and Avenida da República). The home's address is 6 Estrada de Santa Sancha. It is guarded by Macau's Security Forces at the main gate on Estrada de Santa Sancha. Like the

, the home is surrounded by a larger garden. A covered walkway offers a view of

and the tennis courts below belonging to Clube Militar and the Macau Foundation. The home is located in a residential part of St. Lawrence Parish and neighbours are the affluent members of

References

{{São Lourenço, Macau Official residences of subnational executives Landmarks in Macau Government buildings in Macau Government buildings completed in 1846 1846 establishments in China 1846 establishments in the Portuguese Empire 19th-century establishments in Macau Portuguese colonial architecture in China