Malacca-A'Famosa

A'Famosa is more than just quick photo stop opportunity for tourists . Built in 1511 , the settlement used to sprawl across a whole hillside now only a lone gate ( Porta de Santiago) remains . One of the oldest surviving European architectural remains in Asia ; it is set beside the Istana ke Sultanan on Jalan Kota .

A'Famosa is perhaps Malacca's best known sightseeing spot . Originally constructed by Alfonso de Albuquerque ( who led the Portuguese invasion on the Malacca Sultanate) , the remains of the fort is now a crumbling whitewashed gatehouse and is located downhill from St.Paul's Church .

Structure of A'Famosa

In the 16th century A'Famosa housed the entire Portuguese administration , including its hospitals , five churches , elongated stockades and four key towers . One tower was a four-storey keep ; the others were an ammunition storage room , captain's residence and an officer's quarters . The rest of the bastion comprised of townhouses clustered inside the fortress walls . The fort was expanded in 1586 to accommodate Malacca's growing population .

                                                                                                  Portuguese History

At the beginning of the 16th century , the Portuguese were establishing outposts in Macau , China and India in order to create a string of friendly ports for their ships plying the routes between China and Portugal . Malacca's growing popularity meant that it was fast becoming an important link for Portugal to the Spice Route in China . In 1511 the Portuguese fleet , under the command of Alfonso de Albuque arrived and launched attack on the armies of the Malacca Sultanate and defeated them .

Albuquerque moved swiftly to consolidate his gains by building a fortress around a hill near the sea . He used 1,500 slaves to construct A'Famosa as a stronghold to defend against foreign invasion .

Dutch History

In 1641 the Dutch wrested control of A'Famosa from the Portuguese and drove them out of the city . What remains is largely the Dutch reconstruction as they carried out renovation works in 1670 , following the siege . To this day you can see a small inscription (ANNO 1670) on the fort's arch as well as the coat-of-arms of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) .

A'Famosa changed hands again when Malacca fell into British hands during expansionist Napoleonic times . Initially under the impression that the VOC was to act as a caretaker administration until a time when the Dutch were able to fully resume control , they had no idea the fort would soon be lost to them forever .

                                                                                                                                                             British History

Due to the fact that they offered too little and asked for too much , the Dutch forces so on lost the respect of their Malay subjects and in the early 19th century Malacca was fully conquered by the British . Wary of maintaining the fort , should it fall into enemy hands , the English ordered its destruction in 1806 .

Fortunately , Sir Stamford Raffles (founder of Singapore) who was visiting Malacca in 1810 arrived in the nick of time . Due to his love of history he stepped in before the complete destruction of the old fortress . It was a close call though and the crumbling remains of Porta de Santiago,a small gate house , were all that could be salvaged from total destruction .