A Famosa ( ms, Kota A Famosa; "The Famous" in

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

, also known as ''Fortaleza Velha'' Portuguese: the old fortress, and Dutch: ''Slavenburgh'' (slave castle) & ''De Misericorde'' (Our Lady of Mercy, from

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

: ''Notre Dame de Miséricorde'') was a Portuguese

fortress A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

built in

Malacca, Malaysia Malacca ( ms, Melaka) is a state in Malaysia located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, next to the Strait of Malacca. Its capital is Malacca City, dubbed the Historic City, which has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site ...

, in 1512. The oldest part of the fortress was a five-storey keep which gave its name to the fortress as a whole. Some time following the Battle of Malacca (1641) and the occupation of the city by the Dutch, the keep was destroyed but the outer walls of the fortress were reinforced. However, in 1807 the British destroyed most of the fortress. The ''Porta de Santiago'' gateway, and the restored Middelburg Bastion, are the only parts of the fortress that remain today. They are among the oldest European architectural remains in

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...

and the

Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The t ...

History

In 1511, a

fleet arrived under the command of

Afonso de Albuquerque Afonso de Albuquerque, 1st Duke of Goa (; – 16 December 1515) was a Portuguese general, admiral, and statesman. He served as viceroy of Portuguese India from 1509 to 1515, during which he expanded Portuguese influence across the Indian Ocean ...

. His forces attacked and defeated the armies of the

Malacca Sultanate The Malacca Sultanate ( ms, Kesultanan Melaka; Jawi script: ) was a Malay sultanate based in the modern-day state of Malacca, Malaysia. Conventional historical thesis marks as the founding year of the sultanate by King of Singapura, Parames ...

. Moving quickly to consolidate his gains, Albuquerque had the fortress built around a natural hill near the sea.

Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding i ...

believed that

Malacca Malacca ( ms, Melaka) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state in Malaysia located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, next to the Strait of Malacca. Its capital is Malacca City, dubbed the Historic City, which has bee ...

would become an important port linking

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of th ...

to the Spice Route in China. At this time other Portuguese were establishing outposts in such places as

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

and Goa, India to create a string of friendly ports for ships heading to

Ming China The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han peo ...

and returning home to

. The

once consisted of long ramparts and four major

towers A tower is a tall structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting structures. Towers are specific ...

. One of the towers was a 60-m tall four-storey

keep A keep (from the Middle English ''kype'') is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in c ...

, known as ''A Famosa'' ('The Famous'), which was the tallest building in the region from 1512 until it was destroyed by the Dutch in 1641. Other parts of the fortress included an

ammunition Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other we ...

storage room, the residence of the

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

, and an officers' quarters. There were also town houses inside the

walls. As Malacca's population expanded it outgrew the original fort and extensions were added around 1586. The fort changed hands in 1641 when the

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

drove the

out of Malacca. The Dutch renovated the gate in 1670, which explains the logo "ANNO 1670" inscribed on the gate's

arch An arch is a vertical curved structure that spans an elevated space and may or may not support the weight above it, or in case of a horizontal arch like an arch dam, the hydrostatic pressure against it. Arches may be synonymous with vau ...

. Above the arch is a bas-relief logo of the

Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock ...

. The fortress changed hands again in the late 18th century when the

handed it over to the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

to prevent it from falling into the hands of

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...

's expansionist

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. The

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

were wary of maintaining the

fortification A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere ...

and ordered its destruction in 1806. The fort was almost totally demolished but for the timely intervention of

Sir Stamford Raffles Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles (5 July 1781 – 5 July 1826) was a British statesman who served as the Lieutenant-Governor of the Dutch East Indies between 1811 and 1816, and Lieutenant-Governor of Bencoolen between 1818 and 1824. He is ...

, the founder of modern

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

, who was sent on sick leave from

Penang Penang ( ms, Pulau Pinang, is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, by the Malacca Strait. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the M ...

to Malacca in 1807. It was Captain William Farquhar, tasked with the destruction of the fort and town, who decided to save two of the gateways to the fort, including the Santiago Gate, as well as the Stadthuys, church and jail.

Partial restoration

In late November 2006, a part of the fort, believed to be the Middelburg Bastion, was accidentally uncovered during the construction of 110 meter revolving tower in Malacca Town.Lee, Cynthia.

New Straits Times The ''New Straits Times'' is an English-language newspaper published in Malaysia. It is Malaysia's oldest newspaper still in print (though not the first), having been founded as ''The Straits Times'' on 15 July 1845. It was relaunched as the ' ...

Excavation for Malacca tower project unearths ruins of Dutch fort
1 December 2006 The construction of the tower was ceased and its site was subsequently shifted to the popular district of Bandar Hilir on Jalan Merdeka where it was officially opened to the public on 18 April 2008. Malacca Museums Corporation suspects the structure was built by the Dutch during the Dutch occupation of Malacca from 1641 to 1824. Earlier in June 2004, a watchtower named Santiago Bastion was discovered during the construction of Dataran Pahlawan. In 2006-2007 the Middelburg Bastion was restored.

Gallery

File:Malacca in 1550-1563.png, Malacca including the tower of the A Famosa fortress (1550–1563) File:Stad en Kasteel Malacca.JPG, The town and fortress of Malacca (1780) File:A Famosa - Reconstruction of watchtower.jpg, Reconstruction of watchtower on top of the unearthed remains File:A Famosa anitary sewer line remain.JPG, Malacca

sanitary sewer A sanitary sewer is an underground pipe or tunnel system for transporting sewage from houses and commercial buildings (but not stormwater) to a sewage treatment plant or disposal. Sanitary sewers are a type of gravity sewer and are part of an ...

line ruin File:Melaka Malaysia A-Famosa-01.jpg, Malacca Fortress File:Old Gateway Malacca 1670 (7886254584).jpg, View of the fortress during 1860s to 1900

References

Notations

External links

Tourism Malaysia - St.Paul's Hill

Description of the fort during English rules by ''Hikayat Abdullah''.
{{Authority control Buildings and structures in Malacca City Forts in Malaysia Portuguese forts Portuguese Malacca Tourist attractions in Malacca 1511 establishments in Portuguese Malacca 1641 disestablishments in Portuguese Malacca Portuguese colonial architecture in Malaysia