From prison, library and post office, through to a court house and city council offices – there are few buildings in Macau that have served as many functions as the Leal Senado Building.
Also known as the building of the Municipal Affairs Bureau, the Leal Senado Building has a history of more than 400 hundred years. It has been through rounds of reconstruction, and witnessed transitions of power, but its symbolic status as a civil center remains strong to the present.
Established by the Portuguese administration in 1583, the Senate was the main civil institution that handled the administrative, municipal, economic and political affairs of the city. Located at one end of Senado Square, the Senado Building served as the headquarters of the Senate Council. Its foundational period was approximately between 1584 and 1784. The name “Leal Senado” (“Loyal Senate”) was bestowed on it by Portuguese King Dom João IV in 1654.
“During the Portuguese expansion [between the 15th and 16th Century], the increasing difficulties in managing the remote territories prompted the need to re-establish management standards,” says Maria José de Freitas, a Macau-based architect who studies the complexity of land management in Portugal. “The Leal Senado Building was constructed as the same type of administrative building that had been used by Portugal for ‘territorialisation’, meaning to organize space,” she continues.
Meanwhile, according to Maria José de Freitas, the nation also attempted to consolidate its sovereignty in remote territories through the strategy of integrating with the local community. As a result, the Senate proved to have strong ties with the Macanese locals.
“At that time, there were already a lot of Macanese in the city; as they could often speak both Chinese and Portuguese, they built a strong connection with the mainland Chinese, which was very important,” says Maria José de Freitas. “It is important to note that the local people were also in power, as a lot of people involved in the administration were actually Macanese.”
Multi-functionality
Little is known about the evolution of the building in the early stages of its establishment. Architect Francisco Vizeu Pinheiro compared old maps and illustrations in his academic journal article Using a comparative graphic method in the analysis of the evolution of the Macao Senate, published in 2005. He concluded that the first phase of the building compound was formed by three gable-roofed buildings in a ‘U’ shape around a courtyard with a well.
The second phase of construction took place in 1784, spearheaded by Father Patricio de San José. According to Pinheiro’s study, the new building occupied an area similar to the present one, comprising a large stateroom and a chapel dedicated to Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception. While the administrative facilities were enlarged, a jail was also added to the building. “It was a symbol of power,” Maria José de Freitas notes.
The Senado Building underwent another major reconstruction two years after a devastating typhoon hit Macau in 1874, causing great havoc to the city’s architecture. During that year, a new building was erected with a stone lintel above the main gate that indicated its year of inauguration with the Roman numerals MDCCCLXXVI (1876). It was a notable example of neoclassical architecture, complete with a larger attic, a triangular pediment, and arched windows that adorned the central part of the façade. The new façade was divided into three parts by classical columns, with the middle section thrusting out slightly. Later on, a public library was added to the building in 1927, then a post office in 1931.
The fourth phase of construction began in 1939. According to Pinheiro’s research, the exterior of the building only experienced minor transformations, for instance, the lintels of the doors and windows were changed from arched-shaped to triangle-shaped. Major renovations were made to the interior, which transformed the building into a multifunctional government house, while the left side of the ground floor (presently used as an art exhibition center) was converted into a medical center, and a new lobby for the City Council was added to the first floor. The building also housed the court room during the 1940s. Moreover, like many old buildings in Macau, the roof was completely removed and replaced by a terrace.
“We didn’t have the technology to maintain the wooden structure of the roof at the time; they could be easily destroyed in the event of a violent typhoon,” Maria José de Freitas explains.
A cultural landmark
The Senado Building hasn’t gone through any substantial reconstruction since then. For centuries, it served as a base for the Senate to administer the daily life of Macao, until the Senate was ended in 1999, when the territory was handed back to China.
In 2002, the Municipal and Civic Affairs Bureau (IACM) was established to be in charge of municipal affairs, using the old Senate building for its headquarters. And when, at the beginning of this year, the institute was replaced by the Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM), a non-political municipal organization, the Senado Building continued on as the work space for the new bureau.
In recent years, the building has enjoyed the status of a tourism landmark, and became part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Historic Centre of Macau in 2005. Every day, tourists from all over the world come to visit its exhibitions on the ground floor, and the beautiful courtyard that houses the busts of the famous Portuguese poet Luís de Camões and influential educator João de Deus.
For Maria José de Freitas, the spectacular library inside the Senado Building is a must-see: “It is very representative, and has a very strong cultural atmosphere,” she says. “For sure, we cannot see people making decisions in the building anymore, but the walls, the books and the atmosphere speak about the significance of the building.”
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