Na Tcha Temple, Macau澳门哪吒庙（大三巴）
- Type
- Temples and Abbeys (Gongguan)
- Location
- Macau, China · Macau · Macau Peninsula · Calçada de São Francisco Xavier / Calçada da Ruínas de São Paulo, to the right of the Ruins of St. Paul's, beside remnants of the old city wall and Chi Lin Wai
- Coordinates
- 22.1978, 113.5406 Map ↗
- First built
- 1888 (14th year of the Guangxu reign of Qing) · Built by local residents to invoke Na Tcha against an epidemic; restored in 1901. It is one of two surviving Na Tcha temples in Macau, the other being the Old Na Tcha Temple on Ka Sin Hill
- Heritage status
- Macau Classified Immovable Property — Monument MM026 (1992)Part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site 'Historic Centre of Macau' (2005)National Intangible Cultural Heritage: 'Nezha Beliefs and Customs' (2014)
Overview
The Na Tcha Temple, Macau (by the Ruins of St. Paul's) was built in the fourteenth year of the Guangxu era of the Qing (1888); tradition holds that it was built to invoke Prince Na Tcha (Nezha) against an outbreak of plague among local residents, and it was restored in 1901. The temple is very small, 8.4 meters deep and 4.51 meters wide, a two-hall brick-and-timber structure with no courtyard between the two halls — extremely rare among Chinese temples. It stands directly beside the ruins of St. Paul's Church (the Ruins of St. Paul's) and remnants of the old city wall, a juxtaposition of Chinese and Western religious architecture that has become a symbolic image of Macau's cultural fusion. It was classified as a monument (No. MM026) in 1992 and inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2005 as part of the 'Historic Centre of Macao.' A Na Tcha exhibition hall stands beside the temple. Macau's Na Tcha worship customs (including the Na Tcha birthday procession and ritual opera) were inscribed on the National Intangible Cultural Heritage representative list in 2014.
Highlights
- Stands beside the Ruins of St. Paul's
- Two-hall form with no courtyard
- Na Tcha worship customs (National Intangible Cultural Heritage)
- Na Tcha exhibition hall