St. Dominic's Church — Attraction in Sé

St. Dominic's is located on a small St. Dominic's Square at the far end of the much larger Senado Square in the heart of the city center of Macau. It is an important and interesting member of the World Heritage collection and easily one of the frequently visited attractions in the city. We enjoy St. Dominic's and consider it one of our favorite churches in all of Macau.

St. Dominic's was built by the Dominicans in the early 17th century, on the site of an earlier chapel and convent from the 1590s. It features one of Macau's finest facades, showing off a cream coloured front with dark green window shutters. The appearance is just lovely behind the niced tiled grounds of St. Dominic's square. The sight of St. Dominic's can be particularly special on sunny mornings when the background sky is deep blue, before the sun is too high.

Within the church, visitors are treated to a conventionally conservative style nave and seating area, which is commonly found in Macau. However, it also has a slightly more elaborate Baroque style alter area, sharing this similarity with Macau's finest Baroque style church, that being St. Joseph's Chuch, located off St. Augustine Square. In addition, there is a separate museum attached to the church, which contains over 300 Macanese Catholic artifacts, mostly from the 19th and 20th century. This is worth a look as well when visiting St. Dominic's Church.

Overall, we frequently enjoy making quick stops at St. Dominic's Church when visiting the Senado Square area. This church is always a pleasant visit. However, it can be very busy at times when the crowds descend upon this area of Macau. Like other important members of the World Heritage collection, visits early in the day or later in the afternoon might be worth your time if you want a more peaceful experience at...

St. Dominic’s Church and St. Lawrence’s Church are two of the famous churches in Macau, they have a lot in common but with several differences.They both are Catholic Church and were built in Baroque style. As you can see,churches characterized by free and sculptural use of the classical orders and dramatic opposition and interpenetration of spaces of the external façade,painting, sculpture and stucco are also dramatically combined as well.Yellow is their main color and they are perfectly bilateral symmetry. On the other hand,St. Lawrence’s Church is bigger.its structure is different and is mainly built in Baroque style therefore its Baroque characteristics are considered more obvious and representative.The central of main façade flanked by the two square towers,The ground plan of the church is in the shape of a Latin cross. However, as the architecture of St. Dominic’s Church was influenced by Macau’s traditional Chinese-styled building, it was then became the mixture of European and local Macanese features church that combined Chinese elements and typical Baroque characteristics in its design.Corinthian columns and louvered windows punctuate the elevation.To conclude, both St. Dominic’s Church and St. Lawrence’s Church included the characteristics of Baroque architecture, but they still have...

Saint Dominic's Church is a late 16th-century Baroque-style church that serves within the Cathedral Parish of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Macau. It is in the peninsular part of the city at the Largo de São Domingos, near the Leal Senado BuildingThe church was established in 1587 by three Spanish Dominican priests ] who arrived from Acapulco, Mexico. It was the scene of violence in 1644, when a Spanish officer—loyal to the King of Spain and opposing the colony's determination to stay allegiant with Portugal after the dissolution of the Iberian Union—entered the church in order to seek refuge from an angry mob. He was promptly murdered at the foot of the altar while mass was being celebrated. Sixty-three years later, in 1707, the Dominicans supported the Pope's stance with regards to the Chinese Rites controversy. This was in opposition and defiance to the view of the Bishop of Macau, who subsequently excommunicated them. When soldiers were sent to the church in order to uphold this ruling, the friars responded by closing the church for three days and throwing rocks...