1959 - Paul D. Alderton on a visit to Macau

Paul D. Alderton photographed in front of the iconic ruined South Front of Saint Paul’s Church.

In his book, Garstin, Crosbie, The Dragon and the Lotus, William Heinemann Ltd., London 1928, the author describes his late 1920’s visit to Saint Paul’s Church: At the top of an imposing flight of steps, like a huge cardboard silhouette reared against the sky, stands a curious monument, the Church of San Paulo. But there is no church; it was burnt down nearly a century ago; only the façade remains, with its gaping doors and curious carving of the Virgin treading on the heathen dragon, medieval ships, and winged skeletons.

Original July 1959 B&W image captured by Paolo Frere.