This parish was one of five in the former Municipality of Macau, one of Macau's two municipalities that were abolished on 31 December 2001 by Law No. 17/2001, following the 1999 transfer of sovereignty over Macau from Portugal to China. While their administrative functions have since been removed, these parishes are still retained nominally.
It was surrounded by water on all sides except north and Southeast. It neighbours Freguesia da Sé. Penha Hill and Barra Hill [zh] (媽閣山) are to the south. The Portuguese governor building and current administrative buildings are located here. The hillsides contain a residential area of luxurious villas.
Macao Public Library operates two branches in the parish: the Sir Robert Ho Tung Library and the S. Lourenço Library (Biblioteca de S. Lourenço; 下環圖書館). The latter occupies 1,245 square metres (13,400 sq ft) of space on the third floor of the Municipal Market Complex of St. Lourenço (下環街市). The S. Lourenço branch opened in December 2009 and was a part of the renovation of the market.[8]
^"Contacte-Nos." Macau Health Bureau. Retrieved on April 21, 2018. "Centro de Saúde de S. Lourenço (Fong Son Tong) Trav. Inácio Baptista, n.º 2, r/c, Macau" Chinese version: "風順堂衛生中心 澳門鵝眉橫街新濤閣 2號地下"
^"Contacts." University of Saint Joseph. Retrieved on January 17, 2018. "Saint Joseph Seminary [...] Address: 5 Largo de Sto. Agostinho , Macau, China(Entrance next to Sir Robert Ho Tung Library) 地址:中國澳門崗頂前地五號(何東圖書館旁入)"
Note: The civil parishes are purely symbolic. There are currently no political administrative subdivisions in Macau, and instead, the Municipal Affairs Bureau handles some of the functions formerly handled by the abolished municipalities, the former had replaced the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau that was formed in 2002.