Colourful Historical Gardens

At the entrance of Casa Garden, a UNESCO World Heritage Site

Next to Morrison chapel is Casa Garden, a pink and white Portuguese colonial style house in pink and white with dark green shutters.

A relaxing feline by the entrance of the building

It was built in 1770 by a wealthy Portuguese merchant by the name of Manuel Pereira. Later on it was rented out to the British East India Company for the directors of the Macau branch to live there.

At the brick-paved entrance is a symmetrical star and then a pond in front of the house. Around it are lots of plants including bright red hibiscus flowers.

The building, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is the headquarters from the Macau delegation of the Orient Foundation where they hold periodic art and history exhibitions.

The entrance to Luis de Camoes Garden next door

As I approached the house, I saw a ginger-striped cat sleeping with its legs outstretched and yet its head was upright. I started taking pictures of it from a distance, worried that if I made too much noise, it would be startled and run away.

But even as I quietly walked up the stairs, it did not flinch and I managed to take a good shot of it. And sitting by the door was a black dog that also didn't seem to care about my appearance. I guess they get along...

To the left of Casa Garden is the Luis de Camoes Garden, named after the Portuguese poet from four centuries ago.

The first Korean priest St Andrew Kim

It's deceptive how big this place is and in it are many winding pathways that go up and down and with stairs so you do get a good workout -- especially in the hot and humid weather like I did!

There's even a library here with many signs pointing to it. But kids seem to enjoy running around the verdant area, while elderly men avidly watched a Chinese chess match in progress.

I spied a statue and went up to take a look. It's St Andrew Kim -- the first Korean priest. He was born in 1821 and when he was 16 years old he came to Macau to study theology. Kim then returned to Korea in 1845 but a year later was arrested and martyred at the age of 25!

Pope John Paul II canonized him in 1984 and a year later this statue was erected, and then repaired and rededicated to Korean Catholics in Hong Kong and Macau in 1997.

Gorgeous lotus leaves and flowers at the park entrance

I also climbed up to what seemed like the highest point of the park, but the overview wasn't particularly inspiring.

Checking out a Chinese chess game in progress

Along the path I also encountered another two kittens, one sunning himself, the other cautious of me and scurried away but then sat there watching me with his big eyes.

Nevertheless after wandering around here hot and sweaty I decided to take a break though I'd only covered about half of the park. There's still a grotto area where Luis de Camoes lived here in a cave when he was exiled to Macau.

Here he finished his epic poem Os Lusiadas, a fantastical interpretation of the Portuguese voyages of discovery during the 15th and 16th centuries written in the style of Homer.

A pair of cats hanging out in the park

It's too bad I missed the grotto and the bust of Luis de Camoes, but perhaps for another day.

Little Chapel, Rich History

Morrison Chapel is located next to Casa Garden with the cemetery in the back

Today I went to Macau for the day and at lunch a friend there suggested that I check out what is known on the tourist map as the Protestant Cemetery, but it is also called "the Morrison Chapel".

I got a taxi and said the name of the place wrong in Chinese -- it is nicknamed "white dove nest garden" in Chinese (bak gup chau goong yuen) and the taxi driver chided me for pronouncing it wrong. I said I didn't read much Chinese and then let the matter rest.

Inside are historical photos on the walls

He said tourists hardly ever go there -- and in fact I was his first customer to request to go there. He added tourists don't know about this place and I explained that my friend said I should go there.

We passed St Paul's Ruins and went further up the hill to reach this church that is right next to Casa Garden. He warned it would be difficult to catch a cab back down and as soon as I got out, a couple jumped right in.

The area is called white dove nest because at dusk there would be droves of white doves in the sky in this area.

The chapel is very small and simple but airy and kept well. What's also interesting about it is that as part of the British East India Company or EIC, it was stipulated that the chaplain had to come from England to minister to the employees' spiritual needs, and the person had to be approved by the Archbishop of Canterbury or the Bishop of London.

At the back is a small cemetery of various shapes and sizes

However during World War II, no chaplain was sent out from England and so Deaconess Florence Li Tim-oi from Hong Kong stepped up to the plate to become the first woman priest in the Anglican communion.

The chapel is named after Robert Morrison (1782-1834) who was the first Protestant missionary in China and completed the first translation of the Bible into Chinese. He also wrote the first Chinese to English dictionary.

After his wife died, Morrison was employed by the British East India Company, and he asked the company to acquire land from the government to use as a burial ground because at the time Protestants were not allowed to be buried within Macau's Roman Catholic city walls.

The headstones tell short stories of lives lived

Morrison himself is buried here, though during a quick visit to the cemetery grounds I could not spot him, though I did find a large tribute to British artist George Chinnery who lived in Macau for 20 years and painted landscapes and portraits. The Chinnery Bar in the Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong is also named after him.

Then there are a number of headstones marking the deaths of many seamen, particularly from Philadelphia and New York from the 1800s. One wonders how they decided to go to Macau and then died either by sickness or accident...

It's so interesting how such a small chapel has such a rich history!

The large tribute to artist George Chinnery

If you want to go there, either take a taxi or you can take the No. 17 bus that starts from the Macau Cultural Centre and passes by Guia Fortress along the way and the chapel, located right next to Casa Garden is the bus terminus. The bus fare is MOP3.20.