.JPG) Capela de Nossa Senhora da Guia and Guia Lighthouse at the Guia Fortress | |
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| Location | Guia Fortress,São Lázaro,Macau, People's Republic of China |
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| Coordinates | 22°11′47″N113°32′59″E / 22.19651°N 113.54977°E /22.19651; 113.54977 |
| Tower | |
| Constructed | 1865 |
| Construction | concrete-clad stone tower |
| Height | 13.5 metres (44 ft) |
| Shape | massive cylindrical tower with double balcony and lantern |
| Markings | white tower, gold trim, red lantern roof |
| Power source | mains electricity |
| Operator | Macau Heritage (Guia Fortress)[1][2] |
| Heritage | Heritage of Portuguese Influence,World Heritage Site |
| Light | |
| Deactivated | 1874-1910 |
| Focal height | 108 m (354 ft) |
| Range | 16 nautical miles (30 km; 18 mi) |
| Characteristic | Fl(2) W 10s |
| Guia Fortress | |||||||||||
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| Chinese name | |||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 東望洋炮台 | ||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 东望洋炮台 | ||||||||||
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| Portuguese name | |||||||||||
| Portuguese | Fortaleza da Guia | ||||||||||
TheGuia Fortress (Portuguese:Fortaleza da Guia;Chinese:東望洋炮台) is a 17th-century colonial militaryfort,chapel, andlighthouse complex inSão Lázaro,Macau. The complex is part of theUNESCOWorld Heritage SiteHistoric Centre of Macau.
The view of the fortress and the lighthouse has been blocked by theLiaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Macao Special Administrative Region since 2010. Local citizens and scholars criticised that such a case proved that the Macao government had ignored the conservation of heritage in urban planning.[3]
The fort and chapel were constructed between the 1622 and 1638. The fort was already partly built during the unsuccessful attempt by theNetherlands tocapture Macau fromPortugal, providing an advantageous firing position for defending against naval attacks.
The lighthouse was constructed between 1864 and 1865, the first western style lighthouse in theFar East,southeast Asia or on the China coast. The lighthouse stands atGuia Hill, which stands at 91.4 metres (300 ft) tall, and has a light visible for some 20 miles (32 km) in clear weather conditions. The complex was built upon the highest point on theMacau peninsula, Guia Hill, and named after the same location. Today, the site is a tourist destination.
The chapel (Portuguese:Capela de Nossa Senhora da Guia; Chinese: 聖母雪地殿教堂) was built around 1622 inside the Guia Fortress.
In 1998,frescoes were uncovered in the chapel during routine conservation work, representing both western and Chinese themes.
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In 2007, local residents of Macao wrote a letter toUNESCO complaining about construction projects around theWorld Heritage Site Guia Lighthouse (focal height 108 metres (354 feet)), including the headquarter of theLiaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Macao Special Administrative Region (91 metres (299 feet)). UNESCO then issued a warning to the Macau government, which led former Chief ExecutiveEdmund Ho to sign a notice regulating height restrictions on buildings around the site.[4]
In 2015, theNew Macau Association submitted a report toUNESCO claiming that the government had failed to protect Macao's cultural heritage against threats by urban development projects. One of the main examples of the report is that the headquarter of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government, which is located on the Guia foothill and obstructs the view of the Guia Fortress (one of theworld heritages symbols of Macao). One year later, Roni Amelan, a spokesman from UNESCO press service, said that the UNESCO has asked China for information and is still waiting for a reply.[5][4]
In 2016, the Macau government approved an 81-metre (266-foot) construction limit for the residential project, which reportedly goes against the city's regulations on the height of buildings around world heritage site Guia Lighthouse.[4]
Professor atStanford University Dr. Ming K. Chan (Chinese:陳明銶) and professor atUniversity of Macau Dr. Eilo Yu (Chinese:余永逸) commented the Guia Lighthouse case proved that the Macao government had ignored the conservation of heritage in urban planning.[3]
22°11′47″N113°33′00″E / 22.1965°N 113.55°E /22.1965; 113.55
| Authority control databases: Guia Lighthouse |
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