A Famosa () was a Portuguese

fortress A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from L ...

built in Malacca, Malaysia, circa 1512. The oldest part of the fortress was a five-storey keep which eventually gave its name to the fortress as a whole. Some time following the Battle of Malacca (1641) and the occupation of the city by the Dutch, the keep was destroyed but the outer walls of the fortress were expanded. However, in 1811 the British destroyed all of the original fortress and most of the outer walls. The ''Porta de Santiago'' gateway, and the rebuilt Middelburg Bastion, are the only parts of the fortress that remain today.

Name

"''A Famosa''" means "The Famous" in Portuguese; its alternate Portuguese name is ''Fortaleza Velha'' (Old Fortress). During the Dutch era it was known in Dutch as ''Slavenburgh'' (slave castle) & ''De Misericorde'' (Our Lady of Mercy). The name is often mispronounced as " Famosa", even among Malaysians, as though the Portuguese feminine

definite article In grammar, an article is any member of a class of dedicated words that are used with noun phrases to mark the identifiability of the referents of the noun phrases. The category of articles constitutes a part of speech. In English, both "the" ...

"a" were the letter "A" in the

English alphabet Modern English is written with a Latin-script alphabet consisting of 26 Letter (alphabet), letters, with each having both uppercase and lowercase forms. The word ''alphabet'' is a Compound (linguistics), compound of ''alpha'' and ''beta'', t ...

. A more accurate pronunciation would be " Famosa" (approximating "uh"). Although "A Famosa" was technically the name at first given to the main watchtower, and then to the entire fortress of Malacca, in the present day it most often refers to the only remaining gate of the fortress, the Porta de Santiago. The name "A Famosa" is thus a unique case of a

pars pro toto ; ; ), is a figure of speech where the name of a ''portion'' of an object, place, or concept is used or taken to represent its entirety. It is distinct from a merism, which is a reference to a whole by an enumeration of parts; and metonymy, where ...

which then became a

totum pro parte is Latin for "the whole for a part"; it refers to a kind of metonymy. The plural is , "wholes for parts". In context of language, it means something is named after something of which it is only a part (or only a limited characteristic, not nece ...

over the course of time.

History

In 1511, a Portuguese fleet arrived under the command of

Afonso de Albuquerque Afonso de Albuquerque, 1st Duke of Goa ( – 16 December 1515), was a Portuguese general, admiral, statesman and ''conquistador''. He served as viceroy of Portuguese India from 1509 to 1515, during which he expanded Portuguese influence across ...

. His forces attacked and defeated the armies of the

Malacca Sultanate The Malacca Sultanate (; Jawi script: ) was a Malay sultanate based in the modern-day state of Malacca, Malaysia. Conventional historical thesis marks as the founding year of the sultanate by King of Singapura, Parameswara, also known as I ...

. Moving quickly to consolidate his gains, Albuquerque had the fortress built around a natural hill near the sea. Albuquerque believed that

Malacca Malacca (), officially the Historic State of Malacca (), is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state in Malaysia located in the Peninsular Malaysia#Other features, southern region of the Malay Peninsula, facing the Strait of Malacca ...

would become an important port linking

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

to the Spice Route in China. At this time other Portuguese were establishing outposts in such places as

Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

and Goa, India to create a string of friendly ports for ships heading to

Ming China The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

and returning home to

. Hundreds of slaves were used to build this fort. Its materials included using the rubble of destroyed Malaccan

mosques A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were simple p ...

and tombs. The

once consisted of long ramparts and four major

towers A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...

. One of the towers was a 60-m tall four-storey

keep A keep is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in castles that were fortified residen ...

, known as ''A Famosa'' ('The Famous'), which was the tallest building in the region from 1512 until it was destroyed by the Dutch in 1641. Other parts of the fortress included an

ammunition Ammunition, also known as ammo, is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. The term includes both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines), and the component parts of oth ...

storage room, the residence of the

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

, and an officers' quarters. There were also town houses inside the

walls. As Malacca's population expanded it outgrew the original fort and extensions were added around 1586. The fort changed hands in 1641 when the Dutch drove the Portuguese out of Malacca. The Dutch renovated the gate in 1670, which explains the logo "ANNO 1670" inscribed on the gate's

arch An arch is a curved vertical structure spanning an open space underneath it. Arches may support the load above them, or they may perform a purely decorative role. As a decorative element, the arch dates back to the 4th millennium BC, but stru ...

. Above the arch is a bas-relief logo of the

Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( ; VOC ), commonly known as the Dutch East India Company, was a chartered company, chartered trading company and one of the first joint-stock companies in the world. Established on 20 March 1602 by the States Ge ...

. The fortress changed hands again in the late 18th century when the Dutch handed it over to the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

to prevent it from falling into the hands of

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

's expansionist

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. The English were wary of maintaining the

fortification A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Lati ...

and ordered its destruction in 1806. The fort was almost totally demolished but for the timely intervention of Sir Stamford Raffles, the founder of modern

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

, who was sent on sick leave from

Penang Penang is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia along the Strait of Malacca. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay Peninsula. Th ...

to Malacca in 1807. It was Captain William Farquhar, tasked with the destruction of the fort and town, who decided to save two of the gateways to the fort, including the Santiago Gate, as well as the Stadthuys, church and jail.

Partial restoration

In late November 2006, a part of the fort, believed to be the Middelburg Bastion, was accidentally uncovered during the construction of 110 meter revolving tower in Malacca Town.Lee, Cynthia.

New Straits Times The ''New Straits Times'' is an English-language newspaper published in Malaysia. It is Malaysia's oldest newspaper still in print (though not the first), having been founded as a local offshoot of Singapore-based ''The Straits Ti ...

Excavation for Malacca tower project unearths ruins of Dutch fort
1 December 2006 The construction of the tower was ceased and its site was subsequently shifted to the popular district of Bandar Hilir on Jalan Merdeka where it was officially opened to the public on 18 April 2008. Malacca Museums Corporation suspects the structure was built by the Dutch during the Dutch occupation of Malacca from 1641 to 1824. Earlier in June 2004, a watchtower named Santiago Bastion was discovered during the construction of Dataran Pahlawan. In 2006-2007 the Middelburg Bastion was restored.

Gallery

File:Malacca in 1550-1563.png, Malacca including the tower of the A Famosa fortress (1550–1563) File:Stad en Kasteel Malacca.JPG, The town and fortress of Malacca (1780) File:A Famosa - Reconstruction of watchtower.jpg, Reconstruction of watchtower on top of the unearthed remains File:A Famosa anitary sewer line remain.JPG, Malacca

sanitary sewer A sanitary sewer is an underground pipe or tunnel system for transporting sewage from houses and commercial buildings (but not stormwater) to a sewage treatment plant or disposal. Sanitary sewers are a type of gravity sewer and are part of ...

line ruin File:Melaka Malaysia A-Famosa-01.jpg, Malacca Fortress File:Old Gateway Malacca 1670 (7886254584).jpg, View of the fortress during 1860s to 1900

References

Sources

External links

Tourism Malaysia - St.Paul's Hill

Description of the fort during English rules by ''Hikayat Abdullah''.
{{Authority control Buildings and structures in Malacca City Forts in Malaysia Portuguese forts Portuguese Malacca Tourist attractions in Malacca 1511 establishments in Portuguese Malacca 1641 disestablishments in Portuguese Malacca Portuguese colonial architecture in Malaysia