Historical Malacca Trip (Day 1/2)
13th August 2010
Malacca was founded by a fleeing prince from Sumatra in 14th century, it developed into a major trading port for ships from India and China. As the Melaka Sultanate flourished, the Portuguese conquered Malacca in 1511. Later the Dutch took over in 1641 until much later the British empire ruled Malacca. The state finally obtained independence with the then "Malaya states" in 1957. Today, one will find many remnants of the glorious past dated back more than 500 years ago.
We started from the foothill of the St. Paul's Hill and our target is the St. Paul's Church (on top of the hill), once the prayer house of the Portuguese Catholics, then turned into burial ground for their noble dead by the Dutch. The tombstones have Latin and Portuguese inscriptions on them. St. Francis Xavier was buried here in 1553 before his body was moved to Goa in India.
Along the ascend of the hill we had taken numerous historical photos as well. This photo taken was the very old fire engine in the background which were used in the early 90's.
There a few very old and big trees which captivates most people's eyesight. It's located along the parking bays below the hill.
As we continue the journey up the hill, there's a small gate to the "Democratic Government Museum". The gates are closed therefore do not know what's inside.
As we slow ascent along the rounding of the "Democratic Government Museum", we stopped to take a photo of the slight overview of Malacca. There's the Malacca Police Central can be seen on the backdrop bottom.
After our slow climbing of the hill, finally we reached the hilltop of the St. Paul's Hill, there's the Saint Paul Church. Photo taken was St.Francis Xavier who was buried here in 1553 before his body was moved to Goa in India.
Here's the entrance of the ruin church.It was once the prayer house of the Portuguese Catholics, then turned into burial ground for their noble dead by the Dutch.
The tombstones have Latin and Portuguese inscriptions on them with some dated as old as 1650. The tombstones are really big!
The explanation's of the St. Paul's Church board.
As we moves to descend the hill, there's one Dutch graveyard ground entrance but we didn't visit there.
Here's one graveyard which marks the burial ground for one whole family during one massacre. As young as a few months old baby wasn't spare at all.
We continued our journey downhill and reached the well known historical A'Famosa Fort site. After the Portuguese captured Malacca, they built a fortress to defend themselves. The fortress, called A'Famosa suffered severe destruction during the Dutch invasion. What's left today is just the entrance walls, still well preserved till today.
Finally we reached the foothill of the other side of the hill. The real plane of the old Twin Propeller powered "Twin Pioneer CC MK1" was situated at the garden ground of the foothill.
Finally we can take a rest after almost an hour of walking. My daughter immediate takes up the cold 100 Plus and here we drank it up...wah shiok!.
Took a slow walks after a rest, here we reached the other end of the hill which reached the "Christ Church Malacca" built in 1753, another fine example of the Dutch architecture.. The Stadthuys (1650) was the official residence of the Dutch Governor. It now houses the Historic Museum and Ethnography Museum which has many traditional bridal costumes and relics on display.
At the evening time, we visited "Jonker's Street" or Malacca Pasar Malam. Jonker's Street, once the richman's street is now a living proof of Malacca's rich baba-nyonya heritage. The buildings are immaculately constructed with elaborate carvings on its pillars and walls. The street is also famous for its antique shops. We had totally forgotten to take photographs of where we went as we were busy shopping for food and goodies...next trip when i go over there again, will definitely blogs it up!.
Photos taken using Nokia N97
Location of Malacca Historical Site :
