Senado Square and IAM Building

Senado Square is connected with Largo do São Domingos in the north and Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro in the south. The name “Senado Square”, which was first published in the “Cadastre of Public Roads of Macao” in 1869, was given to this place because it was located in front of the deliberative organ. The bronze statue of Mesquita, a Portuguese military officer, was built in the middle of the Square in the 1940s. After the statue was brought down by the people in the 1960s, a fountain was constructed there. Therefore, today the Square is commonly known as “Water Fountain”.

Since Macao opened its port, the Senado Square has been Macao’s city centre all along. The Governors in the past probably held inauguration ceremonies in the area and inspected the maritime and ground forces stationed in Macao. Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, each year the patriotic organisations in Macao would set up decorated archways in celebration of the national holiday until the 1970s. Celebration activities are still held in the square up to now.

The buildings around the Senado Square are full of special features, with some of which having much value in architectural arts recognised as memorials. Among them, the IAM Building was once used as the offices of the deliberative and municipal management organs under the Macao governing authorities. Many organs including the museum, post office, public health organ, court and prison, etc., used to be operated there, but later all had moved elsewhere. Following Macao’s return to China in 1999, the Provisional Municipality of Macao was established, and the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau was formed on 1 January 2002, following the merger of the Provisional Municipality of Macao and the Provisional Municipality of the Islands on 31 December 2001. The function of the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau is to provide municipal services to Macao residents. Since then, this building of historical and cultural value has been renamed as IAM Building.

The “Historic Centre of Macao” was officially recognised as part of the World Heritage by the UNESCO in 2005. The IAM Building, as the historic building within the “Historic Centre of Macao”, was also included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.