Let's Walk: Melacca Heritage Trail

December 28, 2014

Let's Walk: Melacca Heritage Trail

A lot of people asked, What's in Melacca?

I've always wanted to visit Melacca when I saw the Christ Church and the Dutch Square in the picture. We were dropped off in front of the Square where Christ Church is located. This could be the start of your Melacca Heritage Trail.

Melacca or Malacca or Melaka is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

It is a 4-5 bus ride from Singapore and 2 hours ride from Kuala Lumpur. It was the best time for me to go to Melacca since I am alone. Going to Melacca requires a lot of walking. With the span of 1 day I should have explored the entire area.

The Dutch Square

A lot of people from Melacca know this area as Square. It is also called as Red Square.

Christ Church

No Picture Taking Inside the Christ Church

Souvenir Shops

Melaka Youth Museum and Art Gallery

Tang Beng Swee Clock Tower

Queen Victoria Fountain

Is a tribute of Melaka to Queen Victoria Regina of the Great British Empire in 1901 and is now one of the icon in the Square.

Stadthuys was undergoing renovation at that time and will be open to the public this January. It is a museum with different artifacts of Melaka.

I saw this man with all of his art works of Melacca. His name is Selamad Shariff. I've always wanted to collect different art pieces from different places. I got to talk to him and learned that he doesn't use ruler when he do his work. I bought a piece with a Baba Nyonya House of Melaka in Black and White.

Selamad Shariff

Featured in one of the local newspaper in Melaca.

His Art Works

I followed the tourists and went up hill and saw Saint Paul Church of Melaka.

Saint Paul Church is one important part of the history of Melacca. Here you'll be able to see the statue of the Jesuit Missionary, Saint Francis Xavier. His body was kept here for 8 months before it was transferred to Goa, India.

Statue of Saint Francis Xavier

Saint Paul Church is also known as Our Lady of the Hill. It was turned into a burial ground by the Dutch later after the Christ Church was constructed.

Then I saw the old epitaphs written in Portuguese.

Dutch Graveyard

The Dutch Graveyard can be easily accessed through Saint Paul Church. I later learned that the entrance can be found at the foot of the hill of the church.

Despite that it is called the Dutch Graveyard there are only 5 graves belong to Dutch officers and the rest of the graves are from British officers.