St Lawrences Cathedral in central Macau

Getty Images/Lonely Planet Images

Church of St Lawrence

Macau


One of Macau's three oldest churches, St Lawrence was originally constructed of wood in the 1560s, then rebuilt in stone in the early 19th century. The neoclassical church has a magnificent painted ceiling and one of its towers once served as an ecclesiastical prison. Enter from Rua da Imprensa Nacional.

Transportation

  • bus: 9, 16, 18, 28B

Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Macau attractions

1. Arts Empowering Lab

0.03 MILES

AEL is a non-profit that stages some of Macau's more interesting exhibitions of local art and photography from its headquarters inside an attractive…

2. Church of St Joseph

0.07 MILES

St Joseph’s, which falls outside the tourist circuit, is Macau’s most beautiful model of tropicalised baroque architecture. Consecrated in 1758 as part of…

3. Government Headquarters

0.09 MILES

This pillared, rose-coloured building with two storeys and three wings was built in 1849 for a Portuguese noble. Today it's the headquarters of the Macau…

4. Dom Pedro V Theatre

0.12 MILES

This sage green neoclassical theatre is one of the oldest western-style theatres in East Asia, and remains an important cultural venue today. It was built…

5. Sir Robert Ho Tung Library

0.14 MILES

This charming building, founded in the 19th century, was the country retreat of the late tycoon Robert Ho Tung, who purchased it in 1918. The colonial…

6. Church of St Augustine

0.15 MILES

The foundations of this church date from 1586 when it was established by Spanish Augustinians, but the present structure was built in 1814. The high altar…

7. Mandarin’s House

0.18 MILES

Built around 1869, the Mandarin’s House, with over 60 rooms, was the ancestral home of Zheng Guanying, an influential author-merchant whose readers…

8. Street of Happiness

0.24 MILES

Not far west of Largo do Senado is Rua da Felicidade (Street of Happiness). Its shuttered terraces were once Macau’s main red-light district. Several…

  • placement: superzone
  • path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
  • possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [1, 1],
  • targeting:
    {
      "url": "china/macau/macau-peninsula/attractions/church-of-st-lawrence/a/poi-sig/364779/1324547",
      "destination": "Macau",
      "continent": "Asia",
      "country": "China",
      "city": "Macau",
      "position": "superzone"
    }