Macau · Macau
Pátio do Espinho, Macau — Area Guide & Where to Stay
Pátio do Espinho is the largest walled village left in the Santo António parish of Macau, on the slope behind the Ruins of St. Paul's.
About Pátio do Espinho
Where to stay in Pátio do Espinho
Where you base yourself shapes the visit — here's the character of each area.
Rooms inside the walls are scarce. Pátio do Espinho is a run of houses and yards rather than a lodging quarter, so the real question is how close to the Ruins of St. Paul's a bed needs to be, and the answer usually points downhill into the wider Santo António parish. 新勝街 catches the foot of the slope. Beds near 高園街 leave the Museum of Sacred Art and the walled village a few minutes apart on foot.
About Pátio do Espinho
What are the main landmarks in Pátio do Espinho?
The Ruins of St. Paul's stand directly in front. Pátio do Espinho runs behind that façade and behind the Museum of Sacred Art, its northern half falling as a slope from 高園街 down toward 新勝街, its southern half squeezed between the old city wall ruins and the same street. Walking is the way in.
No ticket office marks the edge of the only walled village left in the Santo António parish, and the boundary is read off the lanes and the enclosing streets instead.
What is the history of Pátio do Espinho?
Japanese Catholics settled here in the 17th century. That community walled a village into the slope behind what would become the Ruins of St. Paul's, and Pátio do Espinho is what remains of it, the only enclosure of its kind still standing in the Santo António parish. 高園街 came through the middle. The village has been counted as two pieces ever since, one falling north toward 新勝街 and one held south against the old city wall ruins.
Where is Pátio do Espinho?
高園街 cuts Pátio do Espinho, 茨林圍 in Chinese, in two on the Macau Peninsula: a northern slope falling to 新勝街, and a southern strip held against the old city wall ruins.
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Updated September 2026