Na Tcha Temple
# Na Tcha Temple

22°11′52″N 113°32′26″E﻿ / ﻿22.19778°N 113.54056°E﻿ / 22.19778; 113.54056

The Na Tcha Temple (Portuguese: Templo Na Tcha; Chinese: 大三巴哪吒廟), built in 1888, is a Chinese folk religion temple in Santo António, Macau, China. It is dedicated to the worship of the popular Deity Na Tcha (哪吒) or Sam Tai Tsz (三太子).

## History

The Na Tcha Temple was built in homage to the guardian deity. It is believed that it was built to put an end to the plague ravaging the region during that time.

In 2004, the temple became one of the designated sites of the Historic Centre of Macau enlisted on the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

## Description

The small traditional Chinese temple is a simple single-chambered building measuring 8.4 meters (28 ft) long and 4.51 meters (14.8 ft) wide. The entrance porch opens to the temple building measuring 5 meters (16 ft) in depth. The building is painted gray, with few ornamentations, except for paintings on walls under the entrance porch. The temple's roof, rising five meters, is a traditional gable roof. True to traditional Chinese architecture, the Na Tcha has protective ceramic animal figurines on its ridge.

## Location

The temple is behind the Ruins of St. Paul's, remains of a principal Jesuit cathedral in the region, serving as one of the best examples of Macau's multicultural identity.

It stands where the ends of two alleys meet: the Rua da Ressurreição (大三巴右街, by St. Paul's) and the Calçada de S. Francisco Xavier (大三巴斜巷, a.k.a. 聖方濟各斜巷). The entry next to temple leads to the Pátio do Espinho [zh], a tiny area within the old city wall.

