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 This famous tourist
attraction was built by a Portuguese
captain by the name of Duarte Coelho who wanted to make
this place a leading Catholic church. The chapel was
turned by the Dutch into a burial ground for their noble
dead and renamed 'St. Paul's Church' from the Portuguese
'Our Lady Of The Hill'. St. Francis Xavier was briefly
enshrined in the open grave in 1553 before being shipped
to Goa, India while this church remained one of
Malacca's most recognizable landmark.
To get to this place of
interest in Melaka, the ruins of St. Paul's church can
be seen standing here as you walk along the steps that
lead up to the top of St. Paul's Hill, from the
Stadthuys. When the Christ Church was built later, St.
Paul's Church was abandoned eventhough some renovations
was being carried out earlier. Under the British, this
church was used to store gunpowder.
Photo: Saint Paul's Church
One of the main
attraction here is the marble statue of Francis Xavier
which was built to commemorate his internment here over
four hundred year ago. Besides the Dutch tombstones seen
here, the view from this hill is remarkable.
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