St. Paul's Church Ruins, Melaka

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The Catholic church of St. Paul was built in 1521 and was the main church of the flourishing Portuguese stelling. When the Dutch conquered it in 1641, it became a Dutch Reformed church and continued to be use, until the Christ Church at stadhuys square was finished in 1753. Then, St. Paul's church was deconsecrated and used as a graveyard. The church building itself fell into decay and the situation did not become better when the British used it as a gundpowder storehouse. Next to the building itself, the Dutch 17th century gravestones are of interest. One of them is the gravestone of Maria van Riebeeck, wife of the famous founder of Cape Town. The statue of St. Francis Xavier was placed in front of the church in 1952 to commemorate his arrival in Melaka 400 years before. The day after the statue was unveiled, a tree fell on the statue cutting off his right hand. St. Francis Xavier's right hand was indeed cut off after his death to serve as a relic, but that happened centuries before...

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St Paul's Church was built by the Portuguese in 1521. St Francis Xavier, a missionary who came to Melaka in 1545, often visited here whenever he passed by Melaka during his travels in the area. His empty tomb can now be seen inside (the body was transfered to Goa in India after nine months) as well as a statue of him in front of the church.
After the Dutch and later the British came to power, the church lost it's importance and it ended up as a storehouse for gunpowder. It has been a ruin for a long time, more than 150 years anyway.
To reach the church one has to climb the St Paul's Hill which is very steep and could be hard to do if you are not fit enough. There are in fact better combinations than steep stairs (more than 110 steps) and scorching sun without any shadow...

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Standing high on the hill overlooking Melaka and the Straits of Malacca this ruin is woth the climb. besides the long history of this church with its Dutch Tombstones there are the magnificent views.

A small chapel was built in 1521, Our Lady of the Hill. During 1556 the church was enlarged to the 2 storeys that we see in ruin today and named St Paul's Church.

The Church is associated with St Francis Xavier who regularly visited. in fact after his death in China his body was temporarily interred at St Paul's for 9 months before being transferred to Goa. The ancient tomb remains in the centre of the ruin.

The church has been in ruins for over 150 years. We first visited this church in 2000 on a family holiday and well worth the climb to visit again.

Up at the top of St Pauls Hill is the ruins of St Pauls Church.

It was formerly a chapel named ‘Our Lady of the Hill’ by the Portuguese. The Dutch later renamed it ‘St. Paul’s Church’ .

On the way up the hill is the original fort built by the Portugese when they arrived in 1511. They called it A Formosa.

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St. Paul's Church now lies in ruins on top of St. Paul's Hill. The hill itself was originally known as Malacca Hill before the church was built. It was renamed Monti Ali Maria, or Mary's Hill after the Portuguese took over. The church was originally a chapel called the Chapel of the Mother of God (Madre de Deus) or Our Lady of the Hill (Nossa Senhora do Oiteiro) and dates back to 1521.

In 1548, the chapel was passed on to the Society of Jesus by the archbishop of Goa, Don Albuquerque. Francis Xavier received the title deeds on behalf of the Society. In 1556, the Portuguese enlarged the chapel, adding a second storey to it. Further renovation was carried out in 1590 with the addition of a tower.

When the Dutch wrestled Malacca from the Portuguese in 1641, they destroyed all the Portuguese buildings except for the fortress, on which they placed the Dutch emblem. The Dutch also took over the chapel, repaired and reconsecrated it into a Dutch Reformed Church, calling it St. Paul's Church, a name which remains today. The Dutch used it for their worship for the next 112 years, until they built their own church at the foot of the hill, Christ Church. St. Paul's Church was then abandoned.

When the British took over Malacca in 1824, St. Paul's Church had lost its tower. However, the British added a lighthouse in front of it and instead of using it as a place of worship, the Church became a convenient storehouse for British gun powder. Old Dutch and Portuguese tombstones can be found inside.

we climbed up some steps from porta de santiago, passing some tombstones, and arrived to this place. it's up on a hill with view to the city.
the building of the church is still there, but no roof. inside we found more tombstones written in latin and dutch. i think it will be scary at nite.

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St Paul's Church ruins keep carving stones of Dutch who used to govern Melaka. It is a good spot to look around Melaka and it is always crowded with visiting tourists. As these ruins reflect the colourful history of Melaka, it is worth a visit. Just behind the ruins, you can also visit the Dutch Graveyard.

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This imposing ruins on top of a hill overlooking the sea was once a chapel called "Our Lady of the Hill" and was built by Portuguese Captain Duerte Coelho.The Dutch renamed it St Paul's Church after they took over Malacca's rule and used it as a place of worship until Christ Church was completed.

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The Fort was originally built as a chapel by the Portuguese but it was eventually renovated into a fort by the Dutch. The place are in ruin now, but you can still see the tombs, name place, etc. There even have 2 street artist performing there.

This church was originally a small chapel built by a Portuguese Captain called Duarto Coelho in 1521 A.D and called "Nosa Senhora - Our Lady of the Hill". The chapel was handed over to the "Society of Jesus" in 1548 and enlarged in 1556 with the addition of a second storey and renamed "Annuciation". A tower was added in 1590.

When the Dutch took over Melaka from the Portuguese, they changed its name to St. Paul's Church and used it for 112 years until their own church, The Christ Church was completed in 1753.

St. Paul's Church lost its tower when the British took over but had one new feature added - the lighthouse at the front. The British however did not use the church for worship, but used it instead for the storage of gunpowder.