Casa Garden reopens to public after five months of renovations

The Orient Foundation (FO) announced in a press statement that after five months of closure for consolidation and exterior repair work, Casa Garden, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is reopening its doors to the public.

The statement noted that the reopening of Casa Garden coincides with celebrations marking the 20th anniversary of Macau’s Historic Centre being listed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

This year, the venue is set to resume its cultural activities with a special program to be held in June. The program includes two exhibitions in the main and temporary gallery areas, and a Portuguese Film Festival, which will be shown in its auditorium.

The FO remarked that the cultural activities program will begin in June, as part of the celebrations for June 10, the Day of Portugal, Camões, and the Portuguese Communities, and aims to strengthen Sino-Portuguese cultural exchange and enrich Macau’s cultural landscape by promoting dialogue and interaction between cultures.

Built in 1770, Casa Garden is a mansion in the Jardim de Luís de Camões area. It was first owned by Manuel Pereira, a wealthy Portuguese merchant. Later, the house was rented to the British East India Company and housed some of the company’s high-ranking officials.

Famous figures have visited the house, such as Lord George Macartney (1737-1806), the first British envoy to China, who met Emperor Qianlong in 1793.

In the 1960s, the house was used as a museum dedicated to the famous Portuguese poet Luís de Camões.