Macao’s Casa Garden

Posted: March 25th, 2026 | No Comments »

It was amazing to spend a week in and around Macao’s Casa Garden (Praça de Luís de Camões) for the Macao International Literary Festival….

Originally built in 1770 as Macao’s first villa-style garden residence for the wealthy Portuguese merchant Manuel Pereira.

In the early 19th century, it was leased to the East India Company as their Macau HQ, housing high-ranking directors.

It has hosted figures such as Lord Macartney (Britain’s first envoy to China) and former US President Ulysses S Grant.

Around 1850 George Chinnery painted “A View of Macao Looking Towards the Casa Garden”, taken from a high point above the inner harbour looking towards the Casa Garden. The pitched roof of the Camões Grotto is visible among the trees of the Casa Garden in the middle distance.

More recently Casa Garden housed the Camões Museum before being purchased by the Oriental Foundation in the 1980s.

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