Malacca/Melaka Malaysia

Yep, you read it right - finally I am posting pictures on Malacca or Melaka - however, you want to spell it.  Apparently, it is spelled several different ways.

Melaka was founded by a fleeing prince from Sumatra in 14th century and it developed into a major trading port for ships from India and China. As the Melaka flourished, the Portuguese conquered Malacca in 1511. Later the Dutch took over in 1641 until much later the British empire ruled Melaka. The state finally obtained independence with the then "Malaya states" in 1957. Today, Melaka has 13 states and you will find many remnants of the glorious past dated back more than 500 years ago.

On top of St. Paul's Hill is the St Paul's Church once the prayer house of the Portuguese Catholics, then turned into burial ground for their noble dead by the Dutch. These tombstones have Latin and Portuguese inscriptions on them. St. Francis Xavier was buried here in 1553 before his body was moved to Goa in India.  Sadly, I was not able to climb the steps to the church, but I will be going back to see it.  

After the Portuguese captured Melaka, they built a fortress to defend themselves. The fortress, called A'Famosa suffered severe destruction during the Dutch invasion. What's left today is just the entrance walls, still well preserved till today.

If you look to the right of the fortress, you will see the stairs I needed to climb to get to the church.  Most days it would have been easy for me - I usually climb 10 flights a day, but lately, I haven't been able to  :-(

  The Stadthuys (1650) was the official residence of the Dutch Governor, now the Historic Museum and Ethnography Museum which has many traditional bridal costumes and relics on display.  

Next to it on the right, is the Christ Church built in 1753, a fine example of the Dutch architecture.

 The Kampung Keling Mosque is one of the oldest in the country (17th century). It's a blend of Sumatran and Western architecture with a 3 tier pyramid roof, a touch of Hindu influence perhaps. The carved wooden ceiling is supported by elegant Corinthian-styled columns. 

The contrast from ancient to modern intrigued me.

Another well preserved building, the Cheng Hoon Teng temple was constructed in 1645 and is believed to be the oldest Chinese temple in the country. The eaves of the temple are decorated with Mythological figures and animation made from broken glass and porcelain - stunning to look at.

The wood carvings and lacquer work are almost breath-taking.

And the needlework did actually take my breath away.

Here I am standing near a beautiful carving. 

 

Ooops!  Another historical moment I just happened to catch  :-)

Jonker's Street, once the rich man's street is now a living proof of Malacca's rich baba-nyonya heritage. 

The street is also famous for its antique shops - and unfortunately for its pick pockets as well.  Again the contrast of old and new was amazing.

I found this picture that I was dying to buy - but not so much I wanted to carry it around all day:

This kind of work in Malaysia is known as Batik - mostly done on fabrics for clothes, but also done on artwork.

The items that we buy in the states are not likely done in huge factories.  As seen here, this man is squatting making something.  We have found in our travels that many items sold to the states are made in tiny rooms with just a few people making them.  They diligently work on dozens of pieces and stack them in professional packing to ship out - and I always just assumed that things were made in huge factories.  After school, the children are also involved in the work. 

More on that later, but here is a family 'factory' and assembly line:

It makes me appreciate what I get so much more than I ever did before.

Melaka has a river running through it - I stood for the longest time enjoying the view.

But I wouldn't swim in it - as I looked down I saw the water monitor had beaten me to it:

Finally, walking on the streets, I was taking pictures of the weird things I always seem to take pictures of...

 

And our guide showed us that above the doors there were square peep holes for the occupants to see who was at the door, this so they could make the decision to open for the guest or not. 

Melaka was a wonderful day trip.  We booked our trip through RMG Tours , left at 8:30 am and returned about 9 pm.  The travel time was around 4 hours each way - but a bit over an hour of that each way is purely clearing Singapore and Malaysia customs.

I love history - and this is definitely worth a trip back for more exploration.  

More later - but this is a good  historical part of our trip  :-)  

I knew you were waiting...