A-Ma Temple
A 1488 temple to Mazu, namesake of Macau.
Last updated
via Wikipedia: A-Ma Temple · see source
Where it is
Coordinates: 22°11′10″N 113°31′52″E (22.1860, 113.5310) · Open in OpenStreetMap
Coordinates and connected clubs: the infobox of Wikipedia: A-Ma Temple (CC BY-SA 4.0). Map: drawn by Codexery from OpenStreetMap tiles.
The A-Má Temple, located in São Lourenço, Macau, China, is a temple dedicated to the Chinese sea-goddess Mazu. Built in 1488, it is one of the oldest temples in Macau and is thought to be the settlement's namesake. In 2005, the temple became one of the designated sites of the Historic Centre of Macau, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Background
The name Macau was thought to be derived from the name of the temple. When Portuguese sailors landed at the coast just outside the temple and asked the name of the place, the natives replied A-maa-gok (Cantonese; Hokkien) or Maa-gok (Cantonese). The Portuguese then named the peninsula with various forms over the centuries such as 'Amacão', 'Ama Cuão', 'amaquan', 'Amacao', 'Amacuão', 'Amaquão', 'Amangão', 'Amagão', 'Amaquam', then the initial ⟨A⟩ was later elided in Portuguese likely due to misconstruing, resulting in forms like 'Macão', 'Macao', 'Macau', 'Maquão', 'Maçhoam', 'Machoam'. The temple was well described in ancient Chinese texts as well as represented in paintings related to Macao, and it is also one of the first scenes photographed in Macao.
More in Historic Centre of Macau
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: A-Ma Temple (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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