Exploring Malacca's World Heritage Sites (Part 2) - St Paul's Church, Statue of St Francis Xavier & Kg. Keling Mosque
Title: Statue of St Francis Xavier, British Lighthouse & St Paul's Church
Title: The Lighthouse
Title: Remnants of St. Paul's Church
Title: The Lighthouse and the Church
Title: Statue of St Francis Xavier 
Title: The Gravestone TabletDate: 17 March 2009, 3:36pm
Camera: Nikon D60 with Aperture: f/6.3, ISO Equiv.: 100 These writings or inscriptions reminds me of Lord of The Ring the movie.
Title: The GREEN ROOFCamera: Nikon D60 with Aperture: f/7.1, ISO Equiv.: 100 A majestic view of Kg. Keling Mosque.
Title: The Towering MinaretDate: 16 March 2009, 10:50am
Camera: Nikon D60 with Aperture: f/9.0, ISO Equiv.: 100 I stayed in Jalan-Jalan Guesthouse. I walk to this mosque at least five times just to look at the beauty of this majestic mosque. Kg. Keling Mosque is one of the oldest surviving mosque in Malaysia.
Title: A PERFECT MosqueDate: 17 March 2009, 4:42pm
Camera: Nikon D60 with Aperture: f/7.1, ISO Equiv.: 100 A perfect view of Kg. Keling Mosque. Love the combination of padoga like minaret and the green roof. A mixture of Malay, Indian and Chinese architecture. Simply impressive! I decided to have a jalan-jalan trip to explore Malacca's World Heritage Sites. It was a damn hot afternoon. I was sweating profusely and my skin was virtually burning! I decided to carry on exploring these wonderful places since the sky is truly amazing - it was a perfect bluish afternoon after a short drizzle. I climbed up St Paul's Hill to witness for myself the grandiose remnant of St Paul's Church. The first thing that caught my attention is the statue of St Francis Xavier overlooking the city of Malacca. I think it is pure white marble statue. Interestingly, the right arm of the statue is not there! Initially, I thought some crazy people vandalised the statue. I did some research and discovered that a day after the statue was consecrated, a large casuarina tree fell on it, breaking off its right arm. And so it stands today without one limb. Hmm...I dunno whether this is a good or bad omen. Later, I venture into the St Paul's Church. I can see some large-sized gravestones lying on the wall of the church. The writings and inscription on the stone are really mind-boggling. Beside that, it has some funny looking symbols and signs that include skulls and gun. I am no expert in Malaysia's history. I found some really nice and interesting facts about the origin of St Paul's Church. St. Paul's Church started off as a small chapel built by the Portuguese, and was called the Chapel of the Mother of God orIgreja de Madre de Deus, or Our Lady of the HillNossa Senhora do Oiteiro, also called Our Lady of Grace, or Nossa Senhora da Annunciada. When the Dutch wrestled Malacca from the Portuguese in 1641, they destroyed all the Portuguese buildings except for the fortress, on which they placed the Dutch emblem. This can be seen today on the remaining gate of the fortress, the Porta de Santiago. The Dutch also took over the Portuguese chapel on top of the hill, repaired and reconsecrated it into a Dutch Reformed Church, calling it St. Paul's Church, a name which remains until today. The Dutch used it for their worship for the next 112 years, until they built their own church at the foot of the hill, Christ Church. St. Paul's Church was then abandoned. When the British took over Malacca in 1824, the St. Paul's Church has lost its tower. However, the British added a lighthouse in front of it. And instead of being used it as a place of worship, the Church became a convenient storehouse for British gun powder. The Statue of St. Francis Xavier was added in 1954. Facts in italic are taken from http://www.malacca-traveltips.com/st-pauls-church.htm
Exploring Malacca's World Heritage Sites (Part 1) - Christ Church Malacca and Dutch Square
Title: Christ Church MalaccaLocation: Dutch Square, Melaka (Malacca), Malaysia
Date: 17 March 2009, 3:08pm
Camera: Nikon D60 with Aperture: f/8.0, ISO Equiv.: 100
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. The porch and vestry were added a hundred years after the initial church hall was completed.
Title: Christ Church MalaccaLocation: Dutch Square, Melaka (Malacca), Malaysia
Date: 17 March 2009, 3:08pm
Camera: Nikon D60 with Aperture: f/8.0, ISO Equiv.: 100
Christ Church was built to commemorate the centennial 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 architecture - rectangular, with massive walls, red granite plinths and Dutch roof tiles. It is perfectly proportion to the ratio of 2:1, 27 meters long by 13 meters wide. There are no aisles or chancel.
Location: Dutch Square, Melaka (Malacca), Malaysia
Date: 17 March 2009, 3:09pm
Camera: Nikon D60 with Aperture: f/7.1, ISO Equiv.: 100
Plaques on the wall of Christ Church commemorate those who died of the various epidemics while stationed in Malacca, reflecting the tough life faced by the Dutch officers in those days. There is also a wooden plaque remembering those who died in World War II, most likely placed there by the British. It sits at the rear of the western wall.
Location: Dutch Square, Melaka (Malacca), Malaysia
Date: 17 March 2009, 4:26pm
Camera: Nikon D60 with Aperture: f/9.0, ISO Equiv.: 100
Some trishaws parked in front of Stadhuys. These trishaws are mostly painted in yellow colour and decorated with flowers. The stereo speakers in the trishaws will blast out loud music while you are enjoying your ride!
Location: Pasar Besar Melaka, Melaka (Malacca), Malaysia
Date: 18 March 2009, 3:17pm
Camera: Nikon D60 with Aperture: f/7.1, ISO Equiv.: 100
Location: Dutch Square, Melaka (Malacca), Malaysia
Date: 17 March 2009, 4:22pm
Camera: Nikon D60 with Aperture: f/6.3, ISO Equiv.: 100
Title: Tan Beng Swee Clock TowerLocation: Dutch Square, Melaka (Malacca), Malaysia
Date: 17 March 2009, 4:28pm
Camera: Nikon D60 with Aperture: f/8.0, ISO Equiv.: 100
The clock tower was built by Tan Jiak Kim in 1886 in memory of his father Tan Beng Swee. The clock tower housed a clock which was imported from England. In 1982, a new clock by Seiko replaced the original clock which had stopped working. The Seiko clock is still installed at the clock tower, and is still in proper working condition.
Title: Malacca Art GalleryLocation: Dutch Square, Melaka (Malacca), Malaysia
Date: 17 March 2009, 3:10pm
Camera: Nikon D60 with Aperture: f/8.0, ISO Equiv.: 100
Interesting curvy roof.
Title: Queen Victoria Memorial FountainLocation: Dutch Square, Melaka (Malacca), Malaysia
Date: 17 March 2009, 3:01pm
Camera: Nikon D60 with Aperture: f/7.1, ISO Equiv.: 100
The Queen Victoria Diamond Jubilee Fountain was erected in 1904 by the people of Malacca to commemorate Her Majesty's 60th anniversary on the British throne.
Title: Picturesque MomentLocation: Pasar Besar Melaka, Melaka (Malacca), Malaysia
Date: 18 March 2009, 4:26
Camera: Nikon D60 with Aperture: f/8.0, ISO Equiv.: 100
On my way to St Francis Xavier Church.
Location: Dutch Square, Melaka (Malacca), Malaysia
Date: 17 March 2009, 3:02pm
Camera: Nikon D60 with Aperture: f/9.0, ISO Equiv.: 100
Look like a gigantic mace :) I LOVE this picture - contrast between the blue sky and shadowy fountain!
I just returned from a full 2D solo trip to Malacca. It was my first time exploring the Historical State of Malacca. I nearly cancelled my trip after listening to endless complains and whining from my elder brother saying "there is nothing to see in Malacca - just pieces of stones here and there". Fortunately, I did some comprehensive research and discover Malacca have lots to offer!
Both Malacca historical city centre and Georgetown, Penang has been listed as a prominent World Heritage Site of UNESCO since 7 July 2008. I truly enjoyed my trip to Penang and I'm looking forward for more or similar goodies in Malacca. I boarded the earliest express bus at Puduraya station to Malacca Sentral main station. It was a smooth two hours bus journey from Kuala Lumpur to the town of Malacca. Bus fare was only RM13. I decided to rely on public transportation since most of these UNESCO HERITAGE sites are within walking distance.
Malacca Sentral is a modern bus station. I asked around and boarded a red bus known as 'hop-on-off". You just need to pay a flat rate of RM1 to move around the city for one full day! I disembarked at the Dutch Square. I can see lots of tourists (local and foreigners) all over the place. WOW!! is the first word to describe the place! The place is so damn NICE!
I wanna start exploring these wonderful buildings straight away! But, I have to find a cheap accommodation first. So, I checked the google map I downloaded the day before and walk to my preferred choice of guesthouse (Jalan-Jalan Guesthouse). The guesthouse look like any other typical Malaccan's shop houses. I proceeded into Jalan-Jalan Guesthouse at Jalan Tukang Emas and was greeted warmly by Sam. He was such a courteous fella. I paid RM46 for 2D stay. It was the BEST BUDGET stay since my traveling began late last year. The room is comfy with mattress, pillow and fan. The shared common bathroom and toilet is simple yet I enjoy my bath! There is even self-made coffee counter and a PC connected to Internet + wifi access for those who brought along a laptop. I think I'm the only Malaysian staying in the guesthouse that time - I can see some Mat Sallehs, Japanese and a Middle Eastern guy. A two days stay there but it was a GREAT PLACE for people seeking cheap yet wholesome stay. Gosh...I'm going to write about this place in Trip Advisor!
It was VERY DIFFICULT trying to plan for my next post about my Malacca trip. The most time consuming thing to do is to sort out all those photos I captured earlier with my NIKON DSLR D60 camera. I have to carefully select the best picture and group them into proper category for ease of reference in future. I'm quite happy that I captured LOTS of wonderful pictures to share with you!! So, I'm going to start this post by posting pictures on Christ Church Malacca and Dutch Square.
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