Sir Robert Ho Tung Library

About this place

Sir Robert Ho Tung Library is a public library on St. Augustine's Square in Macau, within the Historic Centre on the World Heritage List. It occupies an old yellow mansion with a quiet garden hidden behind it from the street, one of the city's pleasant surprises and a good place to rest from the bustle of the centre. The mansion was built before 1894 and owned by Dona Carolina Cunha. The Hong Kong businessman Sir Robert Ho Tung bought it as a retreat in 1918 and lived here from 1941 to 1945, during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong. He died in 1955, and under his will the building passed to the government as a public library, opening to the public in 1958. From the front you see a yellow facade with arched blue and green windows and a row of arches at the entrance. A modern glass wing was added behind in 2005, with a bridge and stairs around it. The garden has a green pergola over a brick path, a low wall with tile patterns, palms, bamboo, small paths and a few small statues. It is steps from Dom Pedro V Theatre. This is a working library, so keep quiet, ask before photographing readers and do not raise your voice in the rooms. The garden is open while the library is, as far as we could find, so ask about hours, which may change on holidays. You can walk here from Senado Square through the sloping streets.