The Convent of St Francis de Assis

St. Franciscan Convent.
Esboço de George Frederick Dashwood em 1832

St. Francesco

The Convent of St Francis de Assis was erected by Philip I and occupied by twenty Capuchin Friars in 1584. The number at present is very limited The guardian is nominated by the provincial of the order of Goa. The church dedicated to Nossa Senhora dos Anjos is large and the altar very magnificent. The convent was occupied by British troops in 1808. In front of the convent is the Fort St Francesco, a strong work mounting several heavy guns for the protection of the beach.

In the early days of the settlement the Dutch made two attempts to take Macao. In 1622 they effected a landing between St Francesco and Guia and were advancing into the city when a few guns on the Monte opened upon them and they were so vigorously attacked by the inhabitants that they were driven back with great loss. On this occasion the slaves behaved so well that they were all emancipated. In 1627, at the second attempt, the battery of St Francesco then only a single row of guns did such execution that some of the ships were burnt and sunk and a number of men killed.

Beyond the strong wall that ascends the hill towards Monte and crosses the Peninsula is a plain called the Campo, which occupies the whole extent to the Chinese barrier, the upper part the Chinese use as a burial ground and in the lower are situated three small villages occupied by Chinese husbandmen who make the valley by unceasing labour produce a great abundance of fine vegetables.

in Description of a View of Macao in China: Now Exhibiting at the Panorama, Robert Burford, 1840

O Convento de s. Francisco por Thomas Watson