Portas do Cerco

The Portas do Cerco is an area in Nossa Senhora de Fátima, Macau, China. Located on the northern tip of the Macau Peninsula, it is known by its border gate separating Macau from mainland China. The gate was built in 1849 to replace a crumbling wall that was erected in 1573 to mark the border of the Portuguese colony.^[1][2] It was the site of the Baishaling Incident, a clash between the Qing dynasty and the Kingdom of Portugal in 1849 over the death of Macau's governor Ferreira do Amaral. Led by Colonel Mesquita, Portugal won the small battle which led to the extension of Macau's border northwards.^[3] At the limit of said expansion, the Portas do Cerco was built with the inscription "A pátria honrai, que a pátria vos contempla" (Portuguese for "Honor your motherland, for your motherland looks over you") on the façade on its inner arch in 1849. For the next 155 years, the gate served as the border between Macau and China.

Macau, now a special administrative region of China, still has an official border with Zhuhai in mainland China a few meters behind the old barrier gate. The new Posto Fronteiriço das Portas do Cerco (border gate border building) was opened on January 15, 2004.

History

Chinese encampment outside the first Barrier Gate on Zhongshan Island, by Auguste Borget (published 1842)

The first formalised border crossing was built in 1573, which was subsequently repaired and rebuilt several times until the present border gate was erected in 1870.^[4] It was the site of the Battle of the Barrier between British and Chinese forces on August 19, 1840.

During the 1950s and 1960s the Portas do Cerco was also referred to as Far Eastern Checkpoint Charlie with a major border incident happening in 1952 with Portuguese African Troops exchanging fire with Chinese Communist border guards.^[5] According to reports, the exchange lasted for 1-and-three-quarter hours leaving one dead and several dozens injured on Macau side and more than 100 casualties claimed on the Communist Chinese side.^[6]

Gallery

• 
  The old Barrier Gate (Portas do Cerco) with the new Barrier Gate Frontier Checkpoint building in the background.

Transport

Transmac

• 2, 3A, 5, 9, 9A, 28C, 34, AP1

TCM

• 10, 10B, 17, 18, 25, 30, AP1

See also

• List of tourist attractions in Macau

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Portas do Cerco.

• Satellite image of Portas do Cerco and the vicinity by Google Maps

Mainland China – Macau border crossings
Mainland China	Gongbei Port Hengqin Port Wanzai Port Zhuhai-Macau Cross Border Industrial Zone Port
Macau	Border Gate Checkpoint Cotai Checkpoint Inner Harbor Checkpoint Zhuhai-Macau Cross-border Industrial Zone Checkpoint Outer Harbour
See also: Portas do Cerco Ponte Flor de Lótus

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Coordinates: 22°12′53″N 113°32′56″E / 22.2147°N 113.5488°E / 22.2147; 113.5488