The Camoes Garden and Grotto is the oldest and largest park in Macau and covers nearly a 20,000 square meter area. Found at the far end of the garden is a fountain that contains a bronze sculpture called “Embrace”. The sculpture was made to be a symbol of the centuries’ old friendship between China and Portugal, which can also attest to the old history of the garden. A gazebo can also be found at the highest point of the park where striking views of the harbor can be seen.
After aggravating the court officials, a Portuguese poet named Luis de Camoes was exiled to Macau where he lived in this very cave for two years. It was also here where he finished his masterpiece “Os Lusiadas” or “Soul of Portugal”. This national epic was composed to record the great Portuguese exploration that shaped the world’s primary globe-girdling empire. By the early 18th Century, this piece …