Macau -- World Heritage

Stamp Issue : 2008-07-31

Macao Heritage has preserved many military facilities,such as city walls,fortresses and strongholds.They are important structures which,in the early days,defended Macao against attack from invaders.These walls bear witness to Macao's coastal defence history as well as its military and political history.
The Portuguese built defensive walls around Macao,the earliest of which can be traced back to 1569,the third year in the Long Qing era of the Ming Dynasty.Due to objections from the Chinese Government,these walls were torn down and reconstructed many times.In 1632,the Portuguese used an attack from the Dutch as a reason to reconstruct the walls and fortresses in the Northern part of Macao.With the exception of the Western part of the inner harbour,walls were constructed on the three sides of Macao,the Northern,Eastern and Southern areas and were defended by the installation of cannons at every vantage,becoming prat of the defensive structure of the Macao acropolis.The walls were constructed with a solid compound called chunambo,which is an elaborate mixture of clay,soil,sand,rice straw and crushed rocks and oyster shells,producing a very rigid structure.
The wall near the Ruins of St Paul's was constructed in the 17th century by the Portuguese as part of the defensive structures at that time.The wall is 18.5 metres long,5.6 metres high and more than 1 metre thick and with an archway through it.