The Origin and Development of Pátio do Espinho

Pátio do Espinho is an ancient walled village of Macao with a history of nearly 400 years. It was once the gathering place of Japanese Catholics living in Macao and has witnessed the best and worst of the Church of Saint Paul (Ruins of Saint Paul’s). According to “Anecdotes of Macao” by Wang Wenda, Pátio do Espinho used to be called Hing Seng Lane. In the early 17th century, Catholicism was banned in Japan, which caused many Japanese Catholics to flee to Macao and settle in Pátio do Espinho to avoid being arrested and killed by the Japanese government. Since they planted potatoes for food within the walls, the place was given the name “Chi Lam Wai” (“Potato Field Lane” in Chinese). In 1602, when the Society of Jesus restored the Church of Saint Paul for the third time, they hired a good number of Japanese people to work for them as the ones living there were mostly architects and artists and it did not cost much in terms of human resources and construction materials. In 1835, the Church was burned and only its facade and a few retaining walls were left behind, and the Japanese living in Pátio do Espinho also moved away. The second half of the site of the Ruins of St. Paul’s was then used for the expansion of Pátio do Espinho (the area behind the current Museum of Sacred Art and the north-eastern part). As more and more residents moved into the area, the slope was divided into lanes as upper, second, third and lower levels for nearly one hundred households each. In the 1940’s, the wooden houses at the foot of Mount Fortress suffered a serious fire and the affected residents were relocated to Barbosa Lane were relocated to Tamagnini Barbosa district and a small part of them were relocated to Pátio do Espinho. At the same time, the Portuguese administration of Macao had planned to develop the peripheral areas of the Ruins of Saint Paul’s into a tourist zone and thus walls were built around the upper-level of Pátio do Espinho as barriers and a street called Rua de D. Belchior Carneiro was developed between the walls and the Ruins of Saint Paul’s, dividing Pátio do Espinho into two halves from the West to the East.

As the only existing walled village in Macao, Pátio do Espinho has been included on the list of the Cultural Heritage of Macao by the Government and is considered an integral part of the tourist zone of the Ruins of Saint Paul’s.