Heritage Core Walking Guide in Malacca

Part of the Malacca travel guide — see every topic in All Malacca Guides.

Malacca was the greatest port in South-East Asia in the fifteenth century, then Portuguese from 1511, Dutch from 1641 and British from 1824, and each layer left buildings that are still standing within a few hundred metres of each other. The city was inscribed by UNESCO in 2008 alongside George Town as the Historic Cities of the Straits of Malacca. The core is compact — the whole thing fits in a morning on foot — and the density of it is the point.

The Dutch square

The Stadthuys, the terracotta-red Dutch town hall completed around 1650, is the oldest surviving Dutch building in the East and now houses the history and ethnography museum. Beside it stands Christ Church, built by the Dutch in 1753 to mark a century of their rule, with a single-span timber-beamed ceiling and hand-carved pews. The Queen Victoria fountain and the clock tower fill the square. Everything is painted the same deep red — a twentieth-century decision rather than a Dutch one — and it is the most photographed spot in Malaysia.

St Paul's Hill

Behind the square, a staircase climbs the hill to St Paul's Church, built by the Portuguese in 1521 and later used by the Dutch as a burial ground. Francis Xavier was temporarily interred here after his death in 1552 before being moved to Goa, and a statue marks the spot. The church is roofless, its walls lined with enormous Dutch tombstones, and the view over the strait from the top is the best in the city. Below on the far side is Porta de Santiago, the surviving gate of A Famosa, the Portuguese fortress begun in 1511.

The Street of Harmony

Across the river in Chinatown, Jalan Tokong holds three religious buildings within a few hundred metres. Cheng Hoon Teng, founded in 1645, is the oldest functioning Chinese temple in Malaysia, built with materials and craftsmen brought from China. Kampung Kling Mosque, from 1748 in its present form, is Sumatran in style with a tiered pyramidal roof and a minaret that resembles a Chinese pagoda — a genuinely hybrid building. Sri Poyyatha Vinayagar Moorthi, from 1781, is one of the oldest functioning Hindu temples in the country.

Walking it

Start at the Dutch square, climb St Paul's Hill, descend to Porta de Santiago, cross the river into Chinatown for Jonker Street and the Street of Harmony, and finish at the Baba & Nyonya Heritage Museum. Two to three hours at a walking pace. Go early — the square is mobbed by mid-morning with domestic tour groups and the heat is serious by ten. Most museums charge 10–25 ringgit and several close on Mondays or Tuesdays. The trishaws with sound systems and plastic flowers are unavoidable and, on their own terms, magnificent.

Heritage Core Walking Guide at a glance

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