Macau Protestant Chapel, Christian chapel in Macau, China.
The Macau Protestant Chapel is a Christian chapel in the historic centre of Macau, a UNESCO World Heritage area in southern China. The building has a plain white facade and sits on a quiet lane close to the ruins of St. Paul's.
The East India Company bought the land for a chapel and burial ground in 1821, after the death of Mary Morrison, wife of the missionary Robert Morrison; before that, Macau's Portuguese authorities allowed only Catholic burials. The first recorded ceremony in the chapel was a marriage in 1833. When the company lost its trade monopoly in 1834, the British government took over the chapel and cemetery, and in 1870 a deed transferred them to trustees. The present building dates from a complete rebuilding finished in 1922, on the original foundations, hidden behind a high wall and without a bell.
The chapel is named after Robert Morrison, the missionary who translated the Bible into Chinese; a stained-glass window shows a Bible with the words "In the beginning was the Word". Memorial tablets to James Endicott and Henry Mackenzie flank the altar. Services today welcome worshippers of various denominational backgrounds.
The chapel is inside the World Heritage zone and is easy to reach on foot from most other sites in the historic core. It fits naturally into a walk that takes in the surrounding lanes and squares.
The chapel's stained-glass window shows an open Bible with the Chinese characters for "In the beginning was the Word", the opening of the Gospel of John. Flanking the altar are monuments to James Endicott and Henry Mackenzie. The building stands beside the Old Protestant Cemetery, whose land was bought in 1821 after the death of Mary Morrison, wife of Robert Morrison.
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