Crosses In The Crypt

Описание: I was walking around the crypt.
Ruins of São Paulo
The Ruins of Saint Paul's are the ruins of a 17th-century Catholic religious complex in Santo António, Macau, China. They include what was originally St. Paul's College and the Church of St. Paul also known as "Mater Dei", a 17th-century Portuguese church dedicated to Saint Paul the Apostle.

The Museum of Catholic Art is located in the ruins of St. Paul's Cathedral (Church of the Mother of God) behind the Ruins of St. Paul's. From 1990 to 1996, the Macau government carried out archaeological, restoration and reuse projects on the ruins of St. Paul's Cathedral, and built a tomb and a Catholic Art Museum at the location of the former main altar of St. Paul's Cathedral. The tomb chamber and museum were inaugurated on October 23, 1996.

In the center of the tomb is the ruins of a granite tomb. The owner of the tomb is probably Father Valiant, the founder of St. Paul's College. The bones of Japanese and Vietnamese martyrs are placed in ossuaries on the walls on both sides of the tomb.

The Museum of Catholic Art is located on the west side of the tomb. The exhibits in the museum are Catholic art masterpieces collected by many churches and monasteries in Macao, including four oil paintings interpreting the deeds of St. Francis, as well as crucifixes, icon sculptures, liturgical objects, etc. The most eye-catching one is the oil painting "Saint Michael the Great". St. Paul's Cathedral was destroyed by a fire in 1835. This oil painting is the only oil painting of St. Paul's College that has survived to this day.

Since the seventeenth century, Macau has been the center of Catholic missionary activities in the Far East for three centuries, and St. Paul's College was the radiating point of early missionary activities. The Catholic Art Museum and Tomb, as well as the ruins of St. Paul's Cathedral (Ruins of St. Paul's) are important historical relics of Catholic activities at that time.

On July 15, 2005, the "Historic Center of Macao" was included in the World Heritage List by UNESCO. The Ruins of St. Paul's is an important historical relic that constitutes the "Historic Center of Macao".

November 29, 2023