In the words of the Macanese Cultural Affairs Bureau, the Historic Centre is not only "solid testimony of the city's missionary role in the Far East while also reflecting the dissemination of Chinese folk beliefs to the Western world," but also "the oldest, the most complete and consolidated array of European architectural legacy standing intact on Chinese territory."
用世界遺產委員會的話來說，不但「見證了西方宗教文化在中國以至遠東地區的發展，也見證了向西方傳播中國民間宗教的歷史淵源。」同時澳門歷史城區「也是中國現存最古老的西式建築遺產，是東西方建築藝術的綜合體現。」