Photo Gallery
A Famosa Fortress (built 1511 onwards)
A Famosa, or "The Famous" in Portuguese, is one of the oldest surviving remnants of European architecture in Asia. Once part of a mighty fortress, this tiny gate (called the Porta de Santiago) is all that history has spared.
In 1511 a Portuguese fleet arrived under the command of Alfonso de Albequerque. His forces attacked and successfully defeated the armies of the native Sultanate. Moving quickly to consolidate his gains, Albequerque had the fortress built around a natural hill near the sea. Albequerque believed that Melaka would become an important port linking Portugal to the spice trade from China. At his time other Portuguese were establishing outposts in such places as Macau, China and Goa, India in order to create a string of friendly ports for ships heading to China and returning home to Portugal.
The fortress once consisted of long ramparts and four major towers. One was a four-story keep, while the others held an ammunition's storage room, the residence of the captain, and an officers' quarters.
As the plan below shows, most of the village clustered in town houses inside the fortress walls. As Melaka's population expanded it outgrew the original fort and extensions were added around 1586. Throughout this time, the walls of the fort repeatedly withstood large attacks by native elements.
The fort changed hands in 1641 when the Dutch successfully drove the Portuguese out of Melaka. The Dutch renovated the gate in 1670, which explains the logo "ANNO 1670" inscribed on the gate's arch. Above the arch is a bas-relief logo of the Dutch East India Company.
The fortress changed hands again in the early 19th century when the Dutch handed it over to the British to prevent Melaka from falling into the hands of Napoleon's expansionist France. The English, knowing that they would have to return the fort to the Dutch at the end of the Napoleonic wars, were determined to make the city as useless to the Dutch as possible. They planned to relocate the population and demolish the fort. This nearly happened, but Sir Stanford Raffles (the founder of Singapore) persuaded the English to let the residents remain and also prevented the total obliteration of the fort by convincing the English to let one gate remain for history's sake. It is quite possible that in doing this, Raffles spared the remaining historical monuments of Melaka as well.
Above: Plan of the fortress from 1630. The Porta de Santiago is noted by the arrow
Bibliography:
All images 2005 Timothy M. Ciccone
Chin, Lim Bee. My Penang
Lim Bee Chin, 2005. Malaysia
Khoo Joo Ee. The Straits Chinese: A Cultural History
The Pepin Press, 1998. Amsterdam
Nyen, Robert Tan Sin. Historic Malacca Pot-pourri
Aim Press Sdn Bhd., 1990. Melaka
Pintado, M.J. A Stroll Through Ancient Malacca
Loh Printing Press (M) Sdh Bhd., 1978. Melaka
Shareen Corporate Communications Sdn Bhd. Melaka: The Historic City of Malaysia
Malaysia Mining Corporation Berhad, 1992. Kuala Lumpur
Rowthorn, et. al. Lonely Planet: Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei
Lonely Planet Publications Ltd., 2001. Malaysia
Yeang, Ken. The Architecture of Malaysia
The Pepin Press, 1992. Amsterdam
Leave a Comment (*required)
Did you know that most of the original history hidden by their ancestors? Did you how hurt it is if you know the whole story of how this invasion happened? Read more books and you'll see this fortress differently.
is "sir stamford raffles" nerd.
maybe orginal or copied
gud afternoon mam plz if anything plz reply me
Website: the a formosa fortressmaklumat yang ader bagus tp sikit sangat, x cukup untuk kajian yang tengah nak buat nie. but anyaway thks for info.
does anyone know the address to the a famosa fortress?
Thx 4 your photo. It's very nice. I like it.
I need more information..pease add more for the convinience of others who are in need of these kind of information..thanx!!!!
the information is too little!!!!!XD ,i dont like it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
wht is tis
thank you so much for your attention..its okay Mr. Timothy Ciccone..I already got the information from another website..well dont worry i will still surf to this website..
thanks for taking your time to look for details and reply our comments..:D
A famosa, berapa keluasannnya? penting sebab tengah buat research untuk sekolah. juga kenapa tak banyak dibicarakan tentang Portugese Settlement id Melaka dan pengaruh yang tekah mereka buat kepada Melaka? Boleh tolong? Terilma kasih
HELP! CAN MORE DETAIL?REKA BENTUK...
Thanks for the comments. I've looked, but we do not have any more information readily available beyond what's posted here. Sorry I cannot help further. Timothy Ciccone, editor.
i saw that some has change..but when did u will reply OUR m***age????????? ps.:plz reply our m***age we are realy need it..
hey,y all the question is just the same huh?do all of u want to find it for FOLIO SEJARAH PMR too?????
may i know the architecture, inner deco, and materials used to create the spectacular fortress? or does these pieces of info remain a mystery and can't be found in any other website?? pls, this is really crucial info i need, and it would do wonders if you could post-up links leading to the information needed. Your cooperation is well received and the facts above are appreciated. pls reply soon
I am agree with kah yan question..hows the decorate in the Porta de Santiago???
what A Famosa made of??I want to know about..this is for my school ***ignment..I heard that it is made of mosque and castle..but I dont have any proof of the facts..so I hope there anyone can tell me where can i find it.BTW the jurnal has gave me more information about A Famosa.
hows the decorate in the A Famosa?
i need A FAMOSA building