Leal Senado Square

Imagine walking down the main square of Macau, strolling on the smooth antique-white stone mosaic that's swathed by graceful, waving ribbons of black stone. You are in downtown Macau.

As visitors stroll on the colored stones that extend from Leal Senado Square to the ruins of St. Paul's Cathedral, they finding global staples like Starbucks, McDonald's, abd Haagen Dazs. The square consists of an elegant fountain, trees providing shade, benches for respite from the heat, and a number of cafes.

The Leal Senado, Portuguese for "Loyal Senate," was so dubbed in 1810 by Portugal's Prince Regent João, later to become King John VI. Located at one end of the Square, the Leal Senado was erected in 1748, and was the seat of Macau's government when it was still a Portuguese colony. After the handover of the island to China in 1999, it is became the headquarters of the Instituto para os Assuntos Cívicos e Municipais," the Institute of Civic & Municipal Affairs."