A-Ma Temple

Template:Short description Template:Infobox building Template:Chinese The A-Má Temple is a temple to the Chinese sea-goddess Mazu located in São Lourenço, Macau, China. Built in 1488, the temple is one of the oldest in Macau and thought to be the settlement's namesake.

History

The name Macau was thought to be derived from the name of the temple. See Hokkien Template:Zh; Cantonese Template:Zh. It is said that when the Portuguese sailors landed at the coast just outside the temple and asked the name of the place, the natives replied A-maa-gok (Cantonese Template:Zh; Hokkien Template:Zh) or Maa-gok (Cantonese Template:Zh). The Portuguese then named the peninsula with various forms over the centuries such as "Amacão", "Ama Cuão", "amaquan", "Amacao", "Amacuão", "Amaquão", "Amangão", "Amagão", "Amaquam", then the initial ⟨A⟩ was later elided in Portuguese likely due to misconstruing with Template:Langx resulting into the following forms, "Macão", "Macao", "Macau", "Maquão", "Maçhoam", "Machoam". The temple was well described in ancient Chinese texts as well as represented in paintings, related to Macao. It is also one of the first scenes photographed in Macao.

In 2005, the temple became one of the designated sites of the Historic Centre of Macau, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Architecture

The temple consists of six main parts: Gate Pavilion, the Memorial Arch, the Prayer Hall, the Hall of Benevolence (the oldest part of the temple), the Hall of Guanyin, Zhengjiao Chanlin - Buddhist Pavilion.

Gallery

• A 19th-century painting of the facade of A-Ma Temple by English architect and artist Thomas Allom
  A 19th-century painting of the facade of A-Ma Temple by English architect and artist Thomas Allom
• Main entrance of A-Ma Temple
  Main entrance of A-Ma Temple
• World Heritage marker
  World Heritage marker
• Prayer Hall
  Prayer Hall
• Hall of Benevolence
  Hall of Benevolence
• Zhengjiao Chanlin Buddhist Temple
  Zhengjiao Chanlin Buddhist Temple

See also

• Kun Iam Temple, built in 1627
• Tam Kung Temple (Macau), built in 1862
• Na Tcha Temple, built in 1888
• Sam Kai Vui Kun
• Tin Hau temples in Hong Kong
• Qianliyan & Shunfeng'er
• Religion in Macau
• List of historic buildings and structures in Macau

References

Template:Macau-struct-stub Template:PRChina-Buddhist-temple-stub