2 The church was destroyed by a fire, during a typhoon on January 26th 1835 and now consist of the southern stone façade - intricately carved between 1620 and 1627, by Japanese Christians in exile from their homeland.
3 Resisting calls for the leaning structure to be demolished, the ruins were excavated between 1990 and 1995 in which the crypt and the foundations were uncovered, revealing the architectural plan of the building. Numerous religious artefacts were also found together with the relics of the Chinese Christian martyrs and the monastic clergy, including the founder of the Jesuit college in Macau, Father Alessandro Valignano.
4 The ruins were restored by the Macanese government into a museum, and the façade is now buttressed with concrete and steel in a way which preserves its aesthetic integrity.
