In 1633, the Santa Clara sisters arrived in Macao, becoming the first group of nuns to set foot in China. In the following year, the Convent of Santa Clara was completed at the present site of Santa Rosa de Lima Secondary School – Chinese section. It was the first Catholic convent in Macao and ceased operation in 1835.
In 1782, the Macao Holy House of Mercy proposed the establishment of the Santa Rosa de Lima orphanage to provide shelter and education opportunities for orphaned girls of Portuguese descent. The orphanage relocated to the former site of the Convent of Santa Clara in 1857. In 1875, Santa Rosa de Lima orphanage was renamed Santa Rosa de Lima School, which began to take in boarding students as well as day students of Portuguese descent. From 1876 to 1903, the school was managed by nuns of the Sisters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul and the Canossians. From 1903, it was entrusted to the management of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary (which was briefly managed by the Sisters of Missionaries of Our Lady of the Angels until 1932) until it was entrusted to the Diocese of Macao in 2022.
From 1929 to 1934, the old building was rebuilt into the Hall of Faith, and the Chapel was completed in 1936. The Hall of Faith has a classical eclectic design with a circular pediment on top. The design of the building emphasizes horizontality, with light gray exterior and dark wooden louvred doors and windows, contrasting with the vertical design of the adjacent chapel. The Chapel was designed in a Gothic Revival style, with a Latin cross plan and a symmetrical main façade marked at the base by a portico formed by pointed arches, and crowned by an octagonal bell tower with a simple yet solemn appearance. The Hall of Faith and the Chapel are iconic structures of the school alongside the over 300-year-old stone staircase.
As society evolved, Santa Rosa de Lima School transitioned from an early Portuguese-language girl’s school to introducing an English section in 1932 and a Chinese section in 1933, setting up a corresponding academic system in Chinese, English and Portuguese. Since 1975, the English section moved to Avenida Dr. Rodrigo Rodrigues, while the Portuguese section was discontinued in 1993. The Chinese section has continued to use the premises in Rua de Santa Clara, in Praia Grande.
Santa Rosa de Lima School is a Catholic girls' school with a long history in Macao. A cradle of female intellectuals in the city and has made significant contributions to the development of female education in Macao.
