Historic Center of Macao

Macao, a lucrative port of strategic importance in the development of international trade located on Chinese territory, became a Portuguese settlement in the mid-16th century and returned to Chinese sovereignty in 1999.

The inscribed property presents a group of 22 principal buildings and public spaces that enable a clear understanding of the structure of the old trading port city. With its historical streets, residential, religious and public Portuguese and Chinese buildings, the historical center of Macao provides a unique testimony to the meeting of aesthetic, cultural, religious, architectural and technological influences from the East and the West. It bears witness to the first and most enduring encounter between China and the West, based on the vibrancy of international trade.

As a gateway between China and the Western world, Macao played a strategic role in world trade. Different nationalities settled in this hub of a complex maritime trading network, along with missionaries who brought with them religious and cultural influences, as illustrated by the introduction of foreign building types, many still in use. Macao’s unique multicultural identity can be read in the dynamic presence of Western and Chinese architectural heritage standing side by side in the city and the same dynamics often exist in individual building designs, adapting Chinese design features in Western-style buildings.

The core value of the historical center is not solely its architecture, the urban structure, the people or their customs, but a mixture of all these. The coexistence of cultural sediments of Eastern and Western origin, along with their living traditions, defines the essence of the historical center.