Senate
The old Senate Building clearly visible in the background of this 19th century sketch by George Chinnery. The Misericordia Church (below) had a mediaeval tower.
No other building in the city served as many functions as the Senate.
Through its long history, it was used as the City Government (the Senate), meeting hall, law and justice courts, chapel, storeroom, post office, public works office, school, city hall, museum, art gallery, public library, conservatory, and medical post.
Bishop D. Belchior Carneiro founded the Macau Senate in 1583 which was composed by a group of leading citizens which ruled the city’s daily life.
The first compoud was a walled place formed by three gable roofed buildings in a `U” shape, acceded by a decorated gate that gave way to a courtyard with a well.
The Senate was instrumental for the economical survival of Macau through the trade with South East Asia regions.
The second phase of the senate building started in 1784. Administrative facilities were enlarged with the purchase of a nearby area.
The 1874 typhoon caused extensive damage in the city and in the Senate building which remodelation ended two years later(indicated in Roman numerals over the main gate), marking the beginning of the building third phase.
The attic was enlarged. The facade had a triangular pediment, a new and higher cornice and a stringcourse in the middle of the building stretching visually in the horizontal dimension.
The fourth phase, and the last, started in 1939, after the destruction caused by the 1936 and 1937 typhoons.