The Second Fort
I went back to my hometown last weekend with my younger sister and niece. Passing by Melaka, I suggested to my sister that we make a detour to A Famosa on the way back to KL the next day to which she agreed. (I was born in the state and used to frequently visit my grandparents here, yet I've never been to its historical sites.)
So, the next day, I told my sister probably we should take the highway from Alor Gajah to the city centre. She frowned.
"Where are we going?" she asked.
"A Famosa."
"Why take the highway? We are almost there already."
"The historical site. Not the resort."
"Ohh."
Silence.
"What's A Famosa actually?" she continued.
................
I really had no idea where this ruin was actually located, but I was positive it was supposed to be on a famous hill or something.
"Oh, there's a hill somewhere around here," my sister said when we reached the Stadhuys area. (I just learned this morning that the area is also called 'the clock tower' or Dutch Square.) She passed by the area about a month ago. We parked our car, walked towards the Stadhuys and saw people walking towards the back of it.
"Ok, must be it, must be it."
Two minutes later, we found the entrance and were already excited.
"See, there's an entrance. This is the place. We found it! We are officially five minutes away from the richness of history!"
The entrance reads 'BUKIT ST PAUL'.
We climbed up, amazed by the ruins, took pictures, enjoyed the view and taught ourselves loads of history.
"Ohh... so the entrance of the fort is actually a church... Clever. It totally makes sense. It provided easy access to people of that time. And it's not called A Famosa at all! People must have called it by its old name when the whole fort was built in the 1500s or something."
So I explained to my niece how this building is very old, it used to be near to the beach, and there used to be a thick long fort connected to the entrance, and it was built by the Dutch, or Portuguese. Definitely not the English or Japanese.
We stood in front of the fort, admiring the whole thing and imagining people of the 1500s going in and out of the fort... through the church. A bit strange... but they must have had their own reason for it. I was moved nevertheless. I finally was there at one of the mostfamous important historical sites in our country!
I looked at my sister, "Possibly... this is not A Famosa."
"What? So where is it?"
"I have no idea..."
We looked around the church and finally saw another piece of ruin down the hill.
"Oh thattt... I've been there!" my niece announced.
:p
So that was actually part of the A Famosa that we were looking for, Porta de Santiago or Pintu Gerbang Santiago, one of the four gates of the fort. I won't put up the picture, you know already which one.
But below is a different story to me: the Maritime Museum. Seriously, why have I never heard of this pretty structure before?
It immediately brought us back tothe 14th century, ok I'm not sure which century actually a couple of hundred years ago and reminded us of how huge a trading centre Melaka once was. Imagine all these awesome ships with different designs docking at its busy port. This museum brings out the five-year-old in me.
- Photos: left is the Maritime Museum, top right are the Portuguese ship replicas, bottom right are the English ship replicas.
- About the museum.
So, the next day, I told my sister probably we should take the highway from Alor Gajah to the city centre. She frowned.
"Where are we going?" she asked.
"A Famosa."
"Why take the highway? We are almost there already."
"The historical site. Not the resort."
"Ohh."
Silence.
"What's A Famosa actually?" she continued.
................
I really had no idea where this ruin was actually located, but I was positive it was supposed to be on a famous hill or something.
"Oh, there's a hill somewhere around here," my sister said when we reached the Stadhuys area. (I just learned this morning that the area is also called 'the clock tower' or Dutch Square.) She passed by the area about a month ago. We parked our car, walked towards the Stadhuys and saw people walking towards the back of it.
"Ok, must be it, must be it."
Two minutes later, we found the entrance and were already excited.
"See, there's an entrance. This is the place. We found it! We are officially five minutes away from the richness of history!"
The entrance reads 'BUKIT ST PAUL'.
We climbed up, amazed by the ruins, took pictures, enjoyed the view and taught ourselves loads of history.
"Ohh... so the entrance of the fort is actually a church... Clever. It totally makes sense. It provided easy access to people of that time. And it's not called A Famosa at all! People must have called it by its old name when the whole fort was built in the 1500s or something."
So I explained to my niece how this building is very old, it used to be near to the beach, and there used to be a thick long fort connected to the entrance, and it was built by the Dutch, or Portuguese. Definitely not the English or Japanese.
We stood in front of the fort, admiring the whole thing and imagining people of the 1500s going in and out of the fort... through the church. A bit strange... but they must have had their own reason for it. I was moved nevertheless. I finally was there at one of the most
I looked at my sister, "Possibly... this is not A Famosa."
"What? So where is it?"
"I have no idea..."
We looked around the church and finally saw another piece of ruin down the hill.
"Oh thattt... I've been there!" my niece announced.
:p
So that was actually part of the A Famosa that we were looking for, Porta de Santiago or Pintu Gerbang Santiago, one of the four gates of the fort. I won't put up the picture, you know already which one.
But below is a different story to me: the Maritime Museum. Seriously, why have I never heard of this pretty structure before?
It immediately brought us back to
- Photos: left is the Maritime Museum, top right are the Portuguese ship replicas, bottom right are the English ship replicas.
- About the museum.
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