INTRODUCTION

A Famosa is one of the most valuable ruins built by the Portuguese years ago. This place is another sought of attractive place in Malacca that all Malaysian and tourist not miss if visiting Malacca. 

There are several objectives of the blog:

• Get to know the original history of Kota A Famosa

• Increase knowledge by doing research and learning about historical place

• Can instill patriotism spirit

I wish this blog can give some ideas or information to people out there especially to the new generation. We as Malaysia  should know and care about our country and be proud of it. If not us, who else would care?
This story of Kota A Famosa was extracted from the book "The Hikayat Abdullah" translated in English by A.H. Hill. It describes the appearance and the destruction of the fort "A Famosa" based on the narration of Abdullah bin Abdul Kadir also known as Munshi Abdullah who was born in Malacca in 1797 a legendary Malay writer in the 19th century and who once work as Sir Stamford Raffles assistant and translator in Singapore and Malacca.

References

http://kitamanusiakelana.blogspot.com/2012/09/sejarah-pembinaan-kota-famosa-oleh.html

http://www.orientalarchitecture.com/malaysia/melaka/afamosa.php

HISTORY

      Front view of Kota A Famosa

Behind the name of Kota A Famosa, there’s a lot of history to be told. Kota A Famosa also means, “The Famous” or “Porta de Santiago” that called by the Portuguese. This fortress located at Bandar Hilir, Malacca next to a replica of the Malacca Sultanate Place. It is the oldest European architecture that still standing in Malaysia.

During the Portuguese rule, the fort was important to them in order to protect from the enemies such as, British and Dutch. All the residents were trapped inside of the fort and they just eat cat and rat to survive. Finally, on 14^th January 1641, Malacca was attacked by the Dutch and was badly damaged. Only the entrance facade and a church structure are left.


Then, in the year of 19^th century, British took over Malacca to prevent it from falling in the hands of Napoleon and decided to destroy the whole fort. In the year of 1806, the whole A Famosa was demolished, leaving only a small part as we can see today.

References

http://melakavisitmalaysia.blogspot.com/2013/02/a-famosa-aka-kota-famosa.html

http://afamosamelaka.wordpress.com/category/a-famosa-history/

Structure of the Fort A Famosa

In 1511 a Portuguese fleet arrived under the command of Alfonso de Albequerque. His forces attacked and successfully defeated the armies of the native Sultanate. Moving quickly to consolidate his gains, Alfonso de Albuquerque built the fortress around a natural hill near the sea. He believed that Malacca would become an important port linking in order to create a strong friendly ports fort ships to travel from China to Malacca and vice versa. 

The structure of A Famosa consists of ramparts and four major towers. Each tower has different room such as four-storey keep room, ammunition room, captain’s residence and officer’s quarters. Besides, there was a meeting room for the Portuguese councils and 5 churches.

References

http://malacca.attractionsinmalaysia.com/Porte-De-Santiago.php

http://www.malacca.ws/attractions/a-famosa-melaka.htm

UNIQUENESS OF KOTA A FAMOSA

There is some uniqueness that was found in the fort which became the European architecture that still remains in Asia. The purpose of built A Famosa is to be defense of Malacca. Portuguese colonists also make this Christian settlement with 5 churches, places of worship, monasteries, hospitals, etc.

Materials

        Materials used to build the fort was taken from the ruins mosques and other buildings

 Modification

        After conquered the city of Melaka, Dutch repaired and made some modification. They put their arms on the gate which remains until now the Porta de Sntigo, the only door that survived with the engraving "Anno 1670" .

           

 Interior Decorations

        Kota A Famosa is equipped with four towers or Ketelom (bastions) with a wall thickness of 2.4 meters to 4.5 meters. The towers are known as Baluerte San Pedro, Baluerte de las Virgenes, Baluerte Madre de Dios, Baluerte Santo Domingo, and Baluerto de Santiago. It is also covered with 70 cannons in all direction.

Method of Construction

       Once they conquered Malacca, Portuguese uses forced labor to build fortifications to fend off the attack. Kota A Famosa took 5 months to build. Due to the heat and lack of food, many of the forced labors are found dead 

References

http://memorabletripmelacca.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-famosa-building.html

http://afamosa-nuraliasaqinamy.blogspot.com/

CONCLUSION

Lots of information about the history of Kota A Famosa, which has largely been forgotten by the society. Therefore, we as Malaysian, must appreciate and preserve the heritage of Kota A Famosa. I also find the uniqueness of the structure can attract many tourist to come and visit Malaysia.