Quick Peek At The Former Leal Senado (#MyFirstMacaoTrip)

July 18, 2023

It's been days since I wrote content after being sick. As I slowly recovered, I realized that I had to get back to writing since my drafts are almost running out. Anyway, this is just part of my out-of-the-city trip three months ago.

Sometime in #MyFirstMacaoTrip, we passed by the Senate Square after visiting the St. Pauls Ruins and Sacred Museum. Since I was only a tourist who followed our tour guide (my boss' son), I go wherever he goes as I have no other choices. We just looked around Senate Square, which is surrounded by fancy shops and historical landmarks, and among all the historical buildings, we entered the former Leal Senado, which is now known as the Instituto Para Os Assuntos Municipais or Municipal Affairs Bureau of Macau.

The architecture is rather plain and not something that would catch anyone's attention and is just a typical Portuguese-style building. Its history says that the place formerly has a Chinese Pavilion where Chinese and Portuguese officials held meetings. After it was purchased by the Portuguese government in 1784, the Lean Senado was built for Macau's politics. The place was revamped several times, and in 1999, after the turnover of Macau to China, this became the headquarters of the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau of Macau. (Just check the link above for the reference)

This made me confused about the Roman numeral numbers above the entrance door. Instead of MDCCLXXXIV for 1784, when the Senate was built, it has MDCCCLXXVI which is for 1876 (zoom out the photo above). There isn't information about 1876 either in its history, so it remains mysterious what happened in that year. It seems significant, and they even inscribed it on its front wall.

We entered a narrow corridor, and as my boss said, the place is prettier during special occasions, such as Chinese New Year, Christmas, and others, as it is covered by beautiful decorations with designs depending on the occasion. At the time of our visit, the stairway of the corridor was just decorated with potted flowers since there wasn't any special occasion.

Although it only has a simple architecture, the blue-patterned designs on the lower part of the walls would catch your attention, alongside the traditional green wooden windows and grills. It's more like neo-classical architecture with a touch of traditional design.

The courtyard garden seemed to have been preserved over the years, as you can tell from its old-looking facades. There isn't much to see here actually, only different flowers and some concrete benches to rest on. But as I mentioned above, the place is prettier when there is a special celebration. The only attraction is a bust of a Portuguese greatest poet, Luís Vaz de Camões at the corner of the garden. There was supposed to be a museum for him here, but it has been moved somewhere else.

The place should be a private government sector, but it is open to the public, except for other rooms. I thought we would enter the place, and I was excited to see the headquarters of the Municipal Affairs Bureau, especially the hall where meetings are held, but we just stayed in the garden for a while and then headed to the next destination. It was a boring tour, lol. My boss just took a few photos then we leave. In one of my photos is my male boss who seemed to want to explore the place more. Although it was just a quick peek at the former Leal Senado, I was able to see another UNESCO heritage site and learn about its history.

There was a plaque inside with inscribed information about the place, and I enjoyed reading it in Portuguese. The lady with me was awed as I read the words faster than here. Unbeknownst to her, we were colonized by Spaniards back in the day, and some of our dialects have Spanish words that are similar to Portuguese words. It was a fun experience.

(All photos are mine)

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