Macau - part 3 of 4

April 06, 2025

Barra 媽閣

Barra 媽閣 seems to be where Macau started. Let's begin the day with it.

Barra and 媽閣 (Maa-gok) are very closely related and essentially refer to the same area in Macau, but with slightly different connotations and origins.

Maa-gok (媽閣) is the original Chinese name (Cantonese pronunciation) for the area where the A-Ma Temple (媽閣廟) is located. When the Portuguese arrived in the mid-16th century and asked the locals for the name of the place, they were reportedly told "Maa-gok" (or a similar pronunciation like "A-maa-gok"). The Portuguese then adopted this as the name for the entire peninsula.

Barra is the Portuguese name for the same area. "barra" means "bar" or "mouth (of a river or harbor)". This likely refers to the geographical location of the area at the southwestern tip of the Macau Peninsula, near the entrance to the Inner Harbour. The Portuguese used "Barra" to refer to this district, and it became integrated into the official and everyday language during the Portuguese administration. Today "Barra" is still commonly used in Macau, often appearing in street names (like Largo da Barra - Barra Square), the name of the LRT station (Barra Station), and in reference to the general area surrounding the A-Ma Temple.

There are many options to get there, buses and rail transit. Let's try the latter. Light Rapid Transit (LRT) is relatively new in Macau. The Taipa Line connects Barra on the Macau Peninsula to Taipa Ferry Terminal, passing through key areas in Taipa and Cotai, including the airport and major resorts. This is what we will take.

Looking from the hotel room, I can see the transit station (and trains running). This is Cotai West station, six stops before arriving Barra station.

Cotai West Station

However, the link between resorts and station is under construction (below). We would need to get out from the main lobby, make two right turns to reach the station. Total 15 min walk. Even the hotel concierge gave me this poor direction. I was actually looking for a better route, such as getting out from the south wing lobby and make just one turn.

Anyway, Macau LRT automatic ticket machines only takes MOP. You can buy tickets using digital form from the counter. It seems not many people take the transit compared with the buses. It's good to see the other parts of Macau when riding transit.

Other than the A-Ma Temple 媽閣廟（媽祖閣）showing on the top of the page. There are other temples built through out the history. 正覺禪林(below) is one relatively large. This is actually a small hill with A-Ma Temple on the foothill. Hiking up, there are 正覺禪林 and 弘仁殿 (a small stone temple). 觀音閣 is located higher.

正覺禪林

Continue northbound on R. da Barra, there are many histroic sites along this route. First one is Casa do Mandarim also known as the Mandarin's House (鄭家大屋). It was the home of the late Qing dynasty theoretician and reformist Zheng Guanying 鄭觀應 (1842–1921). Construction of the house began in 1869 by Zheng Guanyin’s father, Zheng Wenrui, and was later expanded by Zheng Guanying and his brothers. Zheng Guanying completed his masterpiece Shengshi Weiyan《盛世危言》(Words of Warning in Times of Prosperity) in this house. This book shaped the thinking of generations of Chinese people, providing a blueprint for reforming China for the modern age. So it is not about this house worth the visiting, it is the book! Although Chinese believes the house much have great influence to the people living in.

Mandarin's House (鄭家大屋)

Right next to the house is the three stories modernized museum. It is free and worth a visit.

Zheng Guanying Museum 鄭觀應紀念館

Not too far away is the Capela de Nossa Senhora da Penha (Our Lady of Penha Chapel 西望洋山聖母小堂), also known as the Penha Chapel. Penha is "cliff" in Portugese. The original chapel was built in 1622 by the crew and passengers of a shipwrecked Spanish vessel, who vowed to build it if they survived. Nossa Senhora da Penha 海崖聖母 is "Our Lady". In 1935, the chapel was rebuilt along with the Bishop's Residence (Residência Episcopal) into the current scale and design. This is why two names actually refer to the same location. And in Chinese, it is called 主教山聖堂 on the Google Maps.

Capela de Nossa Senhora da Penha 主教山聖堂

This may be a better angle of the Chapel (below picture). The smaller cave beneath could be the original one built for "Our Lady".

This is a good site to visit. Not only for its rich history and culture, but also because it is on the top of the hill. The view is great.

To the south is the Torre de Macau 澳門旅遊塔

To the west is Wanzai China 灣仔

To the east you can see the Grand Lisboa Macau 新葡京酒店

After Bishop's Residence is St. Lawrence's Church. Across the street on the right is a junior high (Instituto Salesiano 慈幼中學). It is the oldest English secondary school in Macau. On the left is a gun shop (Loja de Armas 澳門槍店有限公司). One may wonder how they coexist for centuries!

St. Lawrence's Church

D. Pedro V. Theatre

St. Augustine's Church

The resturant we were looking for, turned out not opened today. I do notice this street are full of stores selling shark's fin stews. Already declared this is not right in the rest of the world. Still, here nothing has changed.

Finally we settled our lunch in a local noddle shop. Before taking bus back to the hotel, there is a temple called Hong Chan Kuan Temple (康真君廟) on R. de Cinco de Outubro. Noticed this is a single door structure, so the god is not high ranking. However, it was built in 1860, so some kind of spirit here.