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Macau Architecture
Portuguese architectural styles reflect a variety of forms from Romanesque and Gothic through baroque to neoclassical, and these are best seen in Macau's churches. Two of the best examples are the Chapel of St Joseph Seminary, completed in 1758, and the Church of St Dominic, a 17th-century replacement of a chapel built in the 1590s.
Civic buildings worth close inspection are the Leal Senado, erected in 1784 but rebuilt after it was damaged by a typhoon a century later; the Dom Pedro V Theatre, built in 1860; Government House, dating from 1849; and the exquisite villas that now form the Taipa House Museum.
Macau counts some 40 skyscrapers, but only a few are memorable. Macau Tower, a 338m-tall copy of the Sky Tower in Auckland, New Zealand, is Asia's 10th-tallest building. The landmark Bank of China is an attractive, 38-floor structure clad in pinkish granite.
Leal Senado 
163 Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro
Facing Largo do Senado to the west is Macau's most important historical building, the 18th- century Leal Senado (Loyal Senate), which now houses the Instituto para os Assuntos Civicos e Municipals (IACM; the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau) and the mayor's office. It is called the 'Loyal Senate' because the body sitting here refused to recognise Spain's sovereignty during the 60 years that Spain occupied Portugal.
In 1654, a dozen years after Portuguese sovereignty was re-established, King Joao IV ordered a heraldic inscription to be placed in- side the senate's entrance hall, which can still be seen today. To the right of the entrance hall is the small IACM Gallery (Tel 387 333; admission free; 9am-9pm Tue-Sun) with rotating exhibits. On the 1st floor is the Senate Library (Tel 572 233; admission free; 1-7pm Mon-Sat), which has an extensive collection of books on Asia and wonderful carved wooden furnishings, panelled walls and artwork.
Church of St Dominic
Igreja de Sao Domingos; Largo de Sao Domingos;
8am-6pm
A fine example of ecclesiastical baroque architecture, this imposing church northeast of Largo do Senado is an early-17th-century replacement of a chapel built by the Dominicans in the 1590s. Today it contains the Treasury of Sacred Art (Tresouro de Arte Sacra; Tel 367 706; admission free; 10am-6pm), an Aladdin's cave of ecclesiastical art and liturgical objects exhibited on three floors. Among the most interesting objects are a 17th-century portrait of St Augustine and an ivory statuette of St John the Baptist wearing a hair shirt the wrong way round.
Chapel of St Joseph
Capela do Seminario Sao Jose; Rua do Seminario;
10am-5pm
To the southwest of the theatre is the Chapel of St Joseph, built in 1758 as part of a Jesuit seminary. Its 19m-high domed ceiling has exceptionally fine acoustics, and the church is used as a concert venue.
Macau Tower
Torre de Macau; Largo da Torre de Macau;
10am-9pm
Macau Tower, at 338m the l0th-tallest freestanding structure in the world, stands on the narrow isthmus of land southeast of Avenida da Republica. The squat building at its base is the Macau Convention & Entertainment Centre (Tel 933 339).
Apart from housing observation decks on the 58th and 61st floors (adult/child 3-12 or senior over 65 MOP$70/35), and a bunch of restaurants and bars, including the revolving 360 Cafe on the 60th floor and the 180 Lounge a floor below it, the Macau Tower doesn't 'do' anything - not even relay broadcast signals. As a result, a New Zealand based extreme-sports company called AJ Hackett (Tel 988 8858; Lower
Ground floor, Shop 21, Macau Convention & Entertainment Centre; 10am-6pm) has been allowed to organise all kinds of adventure climbs.
The truly intrepid will go for the Mast Climb (MOP$777-1100, depending on when you do it and how many are in your group), in which you go up and down the mast's 100m of vertical ladders to 338m in two hours. Skywalk (MOP$100/120 weekdays/weekend) is a twirl around the covered walkway - attached to a lanyard - under the pod of the tower (57th floor) and 216m above ground; Skywalk II (MOP$150/180) is a rail-less walk around the outer rim some 233m high. The faint-hearted might try something closer to terra firma: Iron walk (from MOP$50/60 weekdays/weekend), an 8m-high walk via rope ladder around the legs of the tower, with a Flying Fox finish; Iron walk X (MOP$100/120), a vertical version of Iron walk. 23m up; and Flying Fox (MOP$30/40), a 75m 'flight' on a zip line from one of the tower legs into a large net 11 m below.
Taipa House Museum
Casa Museum da Taipa; Tel 825 314; Avenida da Praia;
Adult MOP$5, admission free child under 10 or senior over 60, admission free for all on Sun; 10am-6pm Tue-Sun The five lime-green villas facing the water were built in 1921 by wealthy Macanese as summer residences and three of them collectively form this unusual museum. The two houses to the east of where Avenida da Praia meets Rua do Supico are used for receptions and special exhibitions; the three to the west louse permanent collections.
The first of the houses that form the museum, the House of the Regions of Portugal, contains costume~ and examines traditional ways of life around the country. The House of the Islands looks at the history of Taipa and Coloane, with some interesting displays devoted to the island~ traditional industries: fishing and the manufacture of oyster sauce, shrimp paste and fireworks. The last is the Macanese House, a residence done up in traditional local style that looks like the dom and dona (husband and wire: residing here left just yesterday. The mix of furnishings – heavy blackwood furniture and Chinese cloisonne with statues and pictures of saints and the Sacred Heart – is fascinating and the house offers a snapshot of life in Macau in the early 20th century.
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