The Sir Robert Ho Tung Library (; ) is a

public library A public library is a library, most often a lending library, that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil servic ...

in São Lourenço,

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 ...

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 ...

. A part of the

Macao Public Library The Macao Public Library (; ), formerly known as Macao Central Library; founded in 1895, is a public library system under the Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Macao Special Administrative Region Government. There are 15 branch libraries includi ...

system, is located in St. Augustine's Square in the

Historic Centre of Macau The Historic Centre of Macao (, ) is a collection of over twenty locations that witness the unique assimilation and co-existence of Chinese and Portuguese cultures in Macau, a former Portuguese colony. It represents the architectural legacies of ...

, a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

. The library is housed in a

mansion A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word ''manse'' originally defined a property l ...

that has good historical, cultural and architectural value. The old building has the head office of the library system, located on the ground floor, and the offices of the Macao ISBN Agency, located on the second floor.Services Brochure
"

. p. 18/20. Retrieved on April 18, 2017. "Office Addresses and Office Hours ..ffice of Macao Public Library Largo de Santo Agostinho, No. 3 (i.e. GF, old building of Sir Robert Ho Tung Library) ..acao ISBN Agency Largo de Santo Agostinho, No. 3 (i.e. 2/F, new building of Sir Robert Ho Tung Library)"

History

The building was constructed before 1894 and was owned by Dona Carolina Cunha. Later the mansion was purchased by

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

businessman Sir Robert Ho Tung in 1918 as a retreat and he lived there between 1941 and 1945 during the

Japanese occupation of Hong Kong The Japanese occupation of Hong Kong began when the governor of Hong Kong, Mark Aitchison Young, surrendered the British Crown colony of British Hong Kong, Hong Kong to the Empire of Japan on 25 December 1941. His surrender occurred after Batt ...

as the Japanese respected Portuguese neutrality in Macau. He died in 1955 and the building was presented to the Government for conversion to a public library in accordance with his will. Sir Robert Ho Tung Library was officially opened in 1958 to the general public. In 2005, a new building was constructed near the back garden of the mansion, making the library the biggest public library in Macau.

References

1958 establishments in Macau Historic Centre of Macau Houses completed in 1894 Libraries established in 1958 Public libraries in Macau Tourist attractions in Macau Portuguese colonial architecture in China Classified immovable properties {{Macau-struct-stub

History

See also

References