The building was constructed in 1868 in the neoclassical style, with yellow plastered walls adorned with white circular reliefs and garland decorations. The top of the building once featured a triangular pediment and a sloping tiled roof. Also noteworthy are the semicircular shapes of the side facades. The building is surrounded by a garden and is interconnected with an old residence at Rua da Praia do Bom Parto, no. 17, with both buildings sharing a similar architectural style and forming a cohesive ensemble.
This building originally served as a residence owned by Jardine Matheson, a major British enterprise developed after the British East India Company’s monopoly on trade in China ended. Jardine Matheson had extensive and close ties with China. In 1844, Jardine Matheson moved its headquarters to Hong Kong, and subsequently sold or transferred its properties in Macao.
In the 1940s, the Diocese of Macau took over the properties at Rua da Praia do Bom Parto, no. 19, 21. In 1955, seeing that there were a great number of out-of-school children in Macao, Father German Alonso, S.J. of the Casa Ricci planned to establish a versatile school to accommodate impoverished and uneducated children. This initiative received support from the then Bishop, D. Policarpo da Costa Vaz, who allocated the aforementioned site for the school, leading to the establishment of Matteo Ricci College. By the 1960s, the school had added a secondary section and an evening school section, followed by the construction of new school buildings. In 2010, with the development of the school, students and staffs moved to a new campus, and since 2021, Rua da Praia do Bom Parto, no. 19, 21 has been the campus of the St. Pius X Music Academy.
In the 1950s and 1960s, Macao welcomed a large number of migrants from mainland China, and the need to provide education for the children of these migrants became urgent. Alongside non-governmental organizations and unions, Catholic groups also actively promoted education for the poor, establishing several free or low-cost schools. Matteo Ricci College serves as a prime example of the Catholic Church’s effort to provide education for children from grassroots backgrounds in Macao.
