Malacca Fort - A Brief Background
The fort was built by the Portuguese was completed in 1512. The structure
was made up of stone on its seaward and river sides. The southern and
eastern sides of the Fort consisted of a wooden palisade, a weak link
in the Fort’s defenses. The circumference was 1,310 yards.
When the Dutch took over the fort in 1641, much of the Fort had been
destroyed or was damaged and had to be rebuilt. However, it was from
1665 to 1678, during Balthasar Bort’s term as Governor of Malacca,
that the fort assumed its final form and this was the structure that
the British acquired in 1795.
The capture of the fort by the British was a strategic move to prevent
it from falling into French hands during the Napoleonic Wars. They held
it until 1818 after which they blew it up so that it could no longer be
utilised to the advantage of any of its rivals.
Stamford Raffles arrived from Singapore just in time to prevent the destruction
of the gate known as Porta de Santiago – long believed to be the
only remaining part of the fort. Until today.
After its destruction, the British carried out major land reclamation
works in the 1920s and 30s. The land was turned into the field we now
know as Padang Pahlawan.
Map of Malacca Fort circa 1744 (Dutch)
Excavation of the Santiago bastion; note the proximity of the column
base at the bottom right. (Photo taken on 27 June 2003)
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