Picture of the Day – A Famosa Fort

A’Famosa Fort was a prominent fortress built in 1511 by the Portuguese after they conquered Malacca. The city of Malacca at the time was under the governance of the Malacca Sultanate and was a desired port on the spice route from Portugal to China. The passage from Portugal to China was dangerous during this time period due to several European countries vying with each other for supreme domination as well as the hostilities towards outsiders shown by the Asian nations. The Portuguese built several fortified ports along their route to ensure safer travel.

At the time this fort was built, it consisted of a long ramparts connecting four large towers, one of which was a four-story fortified keep, another was a store room for ammunition, with the other two as the residence for the captain and an officer’s quarters. Inside the walls were homes for the residents of Malacca as well as government offices, churches and shops. In 1586 the population had grown so much that the fort had to be expanded to keep up with the needs for space.

In 1641 the Dutch invaded and succeeded in displacing the Portuguese as the conquerors of Malacca after a 7 month battle. They did some renovations to the walls and gates in 1670 and added ANNO 1670 under the bas-relief of the Dutch East India Company at the top of the arch. The Fort remained relatively untouched after that in the hands of the Dutch until they gave it over to England in the early 1800’s to keep Malacca out of the hands of the French during Napoleon’s reign.

The English decided in 1806 that the fort would be too costly to maintain and began destroying the historic landmark. By 1810 a majority of the fort had been destroyed, save for the little gate that is left today. This gate is known as Porta de Santiago. The only thing that saved this little gateway was the fortunate visit of Sir Stamford Raffles, a wealthy explorer and lover of history who also founded the country of Singapore. His intercession for the preservation of the landmark is what kept A’Famosa Fort from being completely wiped off the map. To date, A’Famosa Fort is one of the oldest remaining European ruins in all of Asia.