Malacca & Surroundings

Become immersed in the history of Malacca and how its rulers often changed over the centuries and influenced the city. You will see a replica of one of their oversized trade ships that sank off the coast carrying treasures back to Portugal. The Malacca Sultanate Palace is actually a replica of the structure which was built by the already extinct sultanate of Malacca. The sultanate of Malacca was the ruler of the city before the arrival of the Portuguese in the 1500s. The plan of the palace was based on the Malay Annals' account of Sultan Mansur Shah's palace. Sultan Mansur Shah was the nobleman who ruled Malacca from 1456 to 1477. The Malacca Sultanate Palace is one of its kind in Malaysia as it offers a rare glimpse of the ancient Malay kingdom which once flourished in Malacca. The Dutch colonists followed, as you will learn at Stadthuys, the 17th-century administrative center they built in the center of town. The Queen Victoria Fountain nearby attests to the British rule, which was short but influential. The British social center at the time was the Malacca Club, now the Proclamation of Independence Memorial. The memorial exhibits are fascinating, especially those chronicling Malaysia’s fight for independence, which was achieved in 1957.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Browse museum exhibits depicting the 15th century, when Malaysia was a sultanate.
• Pause at a replica of a 16th-century ship that the Portuguese built when they ruled Malacca.
• Behold the original 17th-century colonial Dutch administrative center.
• See the British influence at a club that served as the colonist.