Penang Road is a major thoroughfare in the city of George Town, within the Malaysian state of

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 ...

. It runs between Farquhar Street to the north and Komtar to the south. It is a one-way road, with traffic directed southwards towards Komtar. As a major artery within the city centre, Penang Road frequently experiences heavy traffic, as it is home to a number of attractions such as the bars at Upper Penang Road and Chowrasta Market, one of the few wet markets still in operation within the UNESCO

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

. In particular, Chowrasta Market offers a variety of local produce and pastries unique to Penang, such as nutmeg and ''tau sar pneah'' biscuits. A number of hotels also line the Upper Penang Road stretch between Farquhar and

Leith Leith (; ) is a port area in the north of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith and is home to the Port of Leith. The earliest surviving historical references are in the royal charter authorising the construction of ...

streets, such as the Merchant Hotel.

History

Penang Road was one of the first roads to be built outside the original town area planned by

Francis Light Francis Light ( – 21 October 1794) was a British sailor and explorer best known for founding the colony of Penang and its capital city of George Town in 1786. Light was the father of William Light, who founded the city of Adelaide in South A ...

. For centuries, it has served as a retail street, especially along the stretch running in front of Chowrasta Market. The market was built in the 1890s. The Penang police headquarters at Penang Road was the scene of a number of executions by the

Imperial Japanese Army The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...

during the Japanese Occupation period in World War II.

References

{{GTRoad Roads in George Town, Penang

History

See also

References