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Igreja da Sé

Macau Cathedral, officially the Cathedral of the Nativity of Our Lady, stands on Largo da Sé and is the seat of the Catholic diocese of Macau. Its Neoclassical façade, the work of the Macanese architect Tomás de Aquino, is divided into three parts: a central block and two side bell towers, one of which holds a large clock ordered from England in 1857. Above the main door is a Latin inscription dedicated to the birth of the Virgin Mary. The interior, in soft tones with simple, solemn decoration, has four side chapels on each side of the nave and a wide presbytery with stained-glass windows at the back; the windows depict the birth of the Virgin and the Twelve Apostles. Several tombs are kept beneath the high altar, among them that of the twelfth Bishop of Macau, Nicolau Rodrigues Pereira de Borja. Historically, the governors of Macau placed their sceptre beside the statue of the Virgin on taking office. Each year, on the first weekend of Lent, the church takes part in the procession of the Senhor Bom Jesus dos Passos, known as the "Procissão do Grande Jesus", which carries the image from St Augustine's Church to the cathedral and returns it the next day.

Near Igreja da Sé