Village of Our Lady in Ka Ho reopens with exhibition showcasing history of leprosarium

The Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) is holding an exhibition to showcase to the public the achievements of the restoration, use and revitalisation of heritage buildings. The exhibition will be held at the Village of Our Lady in Ka Ho, the only existing leprosarium site in Macau.
Titled “Land of Hope – Historical Archives Exhibition on Leprosariums in Macao,” the exhibition showcases nearly 100 selected archived and related materials from the collections of the Archives of Macao.
The exhibition presents a study of the development of Macau’s leprosy treatment facilities, outlining the history of treatment for individuals afflicted with leprosy in the city. It also provides important documentation for those who may wish to conduct future research on the history and development of leprosy treatments in the territory.
The exhibition also demonstrates how Macau was a pioneer in the field of leprosy relief and rehabilitation, as well as the spread of humanitarianism in Macau.
The government built a leprosarium for patients at the relevant site in 1885. The original facility was composed of only one or two brick houses. In the 1930s, it was rebuilt and expanded into a complex with five residential houses and the Chapel of Our Lady of Sorrows.
A few more buildings were subsequently built to meet the demand.
In 1966, the new Church of Our Lady of Sorrows was built and the original chapel was converted into a recreation room. In 1963, the Italian priest Gaetano Nicosia of the Society of Saint Francis de Sales began his service in the leprosarium in Ka Ho.
The priest, together with the inmates decided to rename the facility Village of Our Lady, invoking the protection of the Virgin Mary. ‏With the advancement of medical technology, the Social Welfare Bureau converted the houses of female patients into a nursing home for the older patients who had recovered in Ka Ho in 1992, and the Village of Our Lady in Ka Ho suspended its medical mission.
Before the restoration and revitalisation of the Village of Our Lady in Ka Ho, the five houses and the former recreation room had sustained various age-related damages, as the village had been left vacant and in a state of disrepair for many years.