The Portas do Cerco is an area in Nossa Senhora de Fátima,

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 ...

. Located on the northern tip of the

Macau Peninsula The Macau Peninsula is the most populous and historical part of Macau. It has an area of () and is geographically connected to Guangdong Province at the northeast through an isthmus wide. The peninsula, together with downtown Zhuhai, sits o ...

, it is known by the Barrier Gate separating

from

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 Portuguese built the gate in 1849 to replace a crumbling wall that the Chinese erected during the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

in 1573. The Chinese built a garrisoned wall to control the flow of people and goods. It was the site of the Passaleão incident, a clash between the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

and the

Kingdom of Portugal The Kingdom of Portugal ( la, Regnum Portugalliae, pt, Reino de Portugal) was a monarchy in the western Iberian Peninsula and the predecessor of the modern Portuguese Republic. Existing to various extents between 1139 and 1910, it was also kno ...

in 1849 over the death of Macau's governor Ferreira do Amaral. Led by Colonel Mesquita, Portugal won the small battle which led to the extension of Macau's border northwards. At the limit of said expansion, the Portas do Cerco was built with the inscription "A pátria honrai, que a pátria vos contempla" (Portuguese for "Honor your fatherland, for your fatherland looks over you") on the façade on its inner arch in 1849. The Barrier Gate served as a ''de facto'' boundary, but the precise limits of Macau's border has never been formally demarcated. Macau, now a special administrative region of China, still has an official border with

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 ...

in mainland China a few meters behind the old barrier gate. The new

Posto Fronteiriço das Portas do Cerco The Posto Fronteiriço das Portas do Cerco (Portuguese for ''Border Post of Portas do Cerco'') is an immigration and customs checkpoint in the Portas do Cerco area in northern Macau, on its border with mainland China's Zhuhai. It is one of three ...

(''Barrier Gate Border Post'') was opened on 15 January 2004.

History

The first formalised border crossing was built in 1573, which was subsequently repaired and rebuilt several times until the present border gate was erected in 1870. It was the site of the

Battle of the Barrier The Battle of the Barrier () was fought between British and Chinese forces at the boundary separating Macao from the Chinese mainland on 19August 1840 during the First Opium War. Located in modern-day Portas do Cerco, the Macao Peninsula was c ...

between British and Chinese forces on 19 August 1840. During the 1950s and 1960s the Portas do Cerco was also referred to as ''Far Eastern Checkpoint Charlie'' with a major border incident happening in 1952 with Portuguese African Troops exchanging fire with Chinese Communist border guards. According to reports, the exchange lasted for one and three quarter hours leaving one dead and several dozens injured on Macau side and more than 100 casualties claimed on the Communist Chinese side.

Transport

Transmac The Transportes Urbanos de Macau S.A.R.L. (Transmac; ) is one of the two public bus operators in Macau, China, along with TCM). It began service in 1988, taking over the service provided by its predecessor "Fok Lei Autocarro S.A.". In Mainlan ...

*5, 9, 9A, 16, 17, 25, 25B, 28C, 34, 51A, AP1, AP1X, MT4 TCM *1, 3, 3A, 3X, 10, 10B, 18, 27, 30, 30X

References

External links

Satellite image of Portas do Cerco and the vicinity by Google Maps
{{Clear Buildings and structures in Macau China–Macau border crossings Gates Macau Peninsula Portuguese Macau 1573 establishments in China 1573 establishments in the Portuguese Empire 16th-century establishments in Macau 1870 establishments in China 1870 establishments in the Portuguese Empire 19th-century establishments in Macau Portuguese colonial architecture in China

History

Transport

See also

References

External links