The Na Tcha Temple (; ), built in 1888, is a

Chinese folk religion Chinese folk religion comprises a range of traditional religious practices of Han Chinese, including the Chinese diaspora. This includes the veneration of ''Shen (Chinese folk religion), shen'' ('spirits') and Chinese ancestor worship, ances ...

temple in

Santo António Santo António (Portuguese for Saint Anthony), also known as Santo António do Príncipe, is the main settlement of the island of Príncipe in São Tomé and Príncipe. It lies on the north east coast. It is the capital of the Autonomous Region ...

Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...

, a special administrative region of

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. It is dedicated to the worship of the popular Deity Na Tcha () or Sam Tai Tsz ().

History

The Na Tcha Temple was built in homage to the guardian deity. It is believed that it was built to put an end to the plague ravaging the region during that time. In 2004, the temple became one of the designated sites of the Historic Centre of Macau enlisted on the

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Description

The small traditional Chinese temple is a simple single-chambered building measuring long and wide. The entrance porch opens to the temple building measuring in depth. The building is painted gray, with few ornamentations, except for paintings on walls under the entrance porch. The temple's roof, rising five meters, is a traditional

gable roof A gable roof is a roof consisting of two sections whose upper horizontal edges meet to form its ridge. The most common roof shape in cold or temperate climates, it is constructed of rafters, roof trusses or purlins. The pitch of a gable roof c ...

. True to traditional Chinese architecture, the Na Tcha has protective ceramic animal figurines on its ridge.

Location

The temple is behind the Ruins of St. Paul's, remains of a principal

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

cathedral in the region, serving as one of the best examples of Macau's multicultural identity. It stands where the ends of two alleys meet: the (, by St. Paul's) and the (, ). The entry next to temple leads to the , a tiny area within the old city wall.

References

Classified immovable properties Folk religious temples in China Historic Centre of Macau Macau architecture Macau Peninsula Religious buildings and structures completed in 1888 Taoist temples in Macau 1888 establishments in Macau {{Macau-struct-stub Asian religious building and structure stubs

History

Description

Location

See also

References