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Certified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Malacca is rich in heritage due to myriad of influences from the East and West. It developed rich cultures and traditions that are unique only to this state.
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Melaka 1
10 With a population of over 30 million, Malaysia is the world's 44th most populous country. Kuala Lumpur is the national capital and largest city, the cultural, financial, and economic centre of Malaysia while Putrajaya is the new federal administrative capital. Malacca is a state in Malaysia located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, next to the Strait of Malacca The Dutch through Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie (VOC) captured Malacca from the Portuguese in the year 1611 ending 130 years of Portuguese occupation of Malacca and renamed it Malakka and were the colonial masters for the next 183 years until it was ceded to the British in 1824. While the Portuguese built fortresses, forts and churches, the Dutch repaired and rebuilt the damaged walls of the fortresses and bastions, built new administrative edifices and residential quarters and business premises. Most of these Dutch legacies are concentrated around St Paul’s Hill and near the mouth of the Melaka River. Tourist from all over come to Melaka to visit this Dutch built city centre listed as a UNESCO World Heritage sites
Tan Beng Siew Clock Tower The Dutch Square
Christ Church, which is located at Dutch Square, is the oldest Protestant Church in Malaysia. A legacy of the Dutch era, Christ Church was built in the 18th century with bricks which were specially brought in from Zeeland in Holland. Christ Church was built to commemorate the cen-tennial of Dutch rule in Malacca. Construction began in 1741, and completed in 1753. It follows an extremely simple design, which is a quintessential church of Dutch archi-tecture - rectangular, with massive walls, red granite plinths and Dutch roof tiles.
When the British took over Malacca, they converted Christ Church for Anglican worship and added the weathercock and bell tower. Fortunately, they leave the old Portuguese tombstones that were laid in the floor where they are, and they remain to this day reminding visitors of the Dutch legacy in Malacca. Queen Elizabeth II visited Malacca on 16.3.1972 and prayed in this church
Queen Victoria's Fountain was built in 1904 to commemorate the Queen Victoria
Although more than a hundred years old, this fountain is still functioning well
The Tang Beng Swee Clock Tower outside the Stadthuys was given to the people of Malacca in 1886 by Mr Tan Jiak Kim to fulfill the desires of his father, Tan Beng Swee, who was a third generation of a Chinese philanthropic millionaire family. Tan Beng Swee, was the son of Tan Kim Seng who donated both the bridge nearby to the clock tower and land for the Chinese cemetery
The Windmill Replica is located on Dutch Square and serves as a reminder that the Dutch once occupied the city
Trishaw decorated with colorful flowers waiting for customer in Malacca. In Melaka, a former colonial settlement that is a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of Malaysia's top tourist draws, the pedal-powered vehicles live on
Souvenir vendors offer all kinds of products at their stands set up in front of the c. 1650 Dutch Stadthuys
The Stadthuys is the biggest, most prominent building in the Malacca Town Square, and it is also the oldest and biggest Dutch colonial building in Southeast Asia. Construction of it began around 1641, the year the Dutch pried Malacca from the Portuguese, who ruled since the fall of the Malacca Sultanate in 1511
It took close to twenty years to complete it, with building material imported from the Netherlands. Throughout the Dutch Administration until 1824, the Stadthuys served as the civic centre of the town. It houses the Dutch governor and his numerous aides. When the British took over Malacca, they continued to use it as a civic centre. After Independence, the Malaysian government also used it as the State Governing Center until 1979. Since then, it was converted into the Ethnography Museum
The statue of Admiral Cheng Ho (Zheng He) stand incongruously on the courtyard, commemorating the admirals' visit to Malacca during the time of the Malacca Sultanate. All the buildings here wear a coat of maroon paint, giving the square a decidedly foreign feel not found anywhere else in Malaysia
This color scheme does not date from the Dutch, however, but was only applied in the early 20th century, around the 1920s. Originally, Christ Church were faced with exposed bricks. Later, a layer of plaster was applied to the bricks when the authorities discovered the wall was leaking. The plaster was then painted white Aldy Hotel Stadthuys
When the British changed the color in the 1920's, it was bright salmon red. The maroon red that we see today was the job of the local authorities much later. It has however created a distinctive character to the buildings at Dutch Square Aldy Hotel Stadthuys
Coronation Park, or Queen Elizabeth's Coronation Park was so named in honour of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth the second Rain tree
Taman Bunga Merdeka but still remembered as Coronation Park, a name given to commemorate the accession of Queen Elizabeth II to the throne in June 1953
Ixora coccinea (also known as jungle geranium, flame of the woods or jungle flame)
Heliconia psittacorum (Parrot's Beak, Parrot's Flower, False Bird-Of-Paradise) Monument to the humble bullock cart
Bullock Cart is a traditional mode of transport that was once very famous in Melaka. It was introduced during the era of the Malacca Sultanate in the 15th century by Indian merchants. Bullock Cart is slowly being swallow by times, it used to be an important mode of transport in the old days.
Dutch Malacca (1641 - 1824) was the longest period of Malacca under foreign control. The Dutch ruled for almost 183 years with intermittent British occupation during the Napoleonic Wars (1795 - 1818). This era saw relative peace with little serious interruption from the Malay kingdoms. This time also marked the decline of the importance of Malacca. The Dutch preferred Batavia (present day Jakarta) as their administrative and economic center in the region and their hold in Malacca was to prevent the loss of the city to other European powers and subsequently the competition that would naturally comes with it
Islamic Museum exhibiting documents and artefacts pertaining to the Islam religion but also to serve as a center to research on how Islam came to Malacca and how the religion spread to the entire country
The UMNO Museum in Melaka tells the story of the United Malays National Organization, the largest political party in Malaysia
The Dutch ruled here from 1641 to 1824. They were preceded by the Portuguese, who arrived in 1511, and were succeeded by the British, who held down the fort until 1957 (unless you count the brief period of Japanese rule)
Malay and Islamic World Museum Muzium Dunia Melayu Dunia Islam
Heeren house (Heeren street) is one of the restored Dutch storefronts
Casa del Rio Melaka is a luxurious hotel in Malacca built on the bank of the Melaka River
Christ Church The Stadhuys Clock Tower
St Francis Xavier Church ©Paul McClure DC
St Francis Xavier Church is named after one of Malacca’s most famous residents, St Francis Xavier, the ‘great missionary to the East’ who was based in Malacca on and off for several years from 1545 onwards. The saint died in 1552 on the way to China. His body was brought back to Malacca before being shipped to Old Goa where most of his remains still lie
Melaka Sultanate Palace, which is a replica of Sultan Mansur Shah’s 15th-century palace. The palace was painsta-kingly constructed in 1985 using traditional construction techniques and materials, based on 16th century archives
Sultan Mansur Shah’s seven-tiered palace was built entirely without nails and supported with carved, wooden pillars and featured a copper and zinc roof. The palace destroyed the year after the sultan ascended the throne when it was struck by lightning
Vallaris glabra, bread flower, kesidang (Malay), the national flower of Malacca
The Melaka Monorail is a complete uni-directional clockwise loop covering 2.5 km and the purpose seems to be more for sightseeing purposes rather than mass transit
