Guia Fortress, located at the highest vantage point of the Macao Peninsula, follows an irregular plan along the Guia hill. Granite blocks neatly form its parapet walls. Inside the fortress are the Chapel of Our Lady of the Snows, the Guia Lighthouse and other old military facilities.
The fortress, built around 1622, was rearranged and expanded from 1637 to 1638, until obtaining its present layout. Besides its military uses, the site also served to monitor the navigation of ships and for issuing weather warnings. Located at the top of the Macao Peninsula, the site was a restricted military zone until 1976, when it was opened to the public as a tourist attraction.
The Chapel of Our Lady of the Snows, built at the same time, displays characteristics of Romanesque architecture with overlapping pediments and a window with a quatrefoil design on the main façade, while the exterior walls area painted in white with the pilasters and pediments painted in yellow. In 1996, during a restoration, beautiful murals were discovered underneath the white old stucco of the interior walls. The frescoes depict biblical stories and figures depicted with techniques that are typical of Chinese painting techniques, also featuring patterns such as, Chinese stone lions, landscape motifs and bats, revealing one of the best examples of fusion of Chinese and Western cultures and arts, which is one of the most exquisite among the churches in Macao.
Near the chapel is the Guia Lighthouse, built in 1865, presenting a funnel-shaped structure all painted in white. The 15-metre-high lighthouse has three levels, with a spiral staircase leading upwards and a giant spotlight at the top. The latitude and longitude of this very first modern lighthouse in China correspond to the geographical coordinates of Macao.
The bronze bell on the fortress used to notify Macao citizens when ships were spotted approaching Macao. Legend has it that several Portuguese cargo ships lost their way to Macao in a night storm, when suddenly a bright light flashed to guide the fleet safely to the city. Seeing that the light vanished on Guia Hill, the survivors regarded the occurrence as a miracle by the Virgin Mary. Hence, the lighthouse was built next to the chapel to guide boats sailing at night. Situated at the highest point of the Macao Peninsula, Guia Fortress has played a key role in ensuring the safety of ships reaching the city, thereby facilitating trade in the context of the Maritime Silk Road in the region.
