Thursday, March 15, 2012

Weekend at Melaka - Part 8: Old Churches

There are three old churches of note that we were able to see in Melaka. These include one whose ruins are preserved and overlooking the city from a strategically located hilltop. These churches tell a rich story about Melaka (formerly called Malacca by its colonizers) that includes Roman Catholic history about one of its most famous missionaries and saints - Francis Xavier.

Christ Church in Melaka is located in the center of the city with a plaza that features a clock tower, flower garden and obelisk. The area is usually very busy throughout the day with a lot of tourists and the occasional pre-nuptial photo sessions around the area.
Founded in 1759, the church is the oldest Protestant church in Malaysia.

Photo op with the church in the background
The plaza is full of stalls selling souvenir items to visitors and there are the many colorful three-wheelers (pedicabs) whose drivers call out to tourists for a non-motorised tour of the city.
The obelisk with Christ Church in the background
The obelisk is located at the center of a fountain.
Based on the inscription, the obelisk is or monument is dedicated to Queen Victoria
The original chapel was founded by the Portuguese in 1521, just about the same time when the Philippines was "discovered" by Magellan (incidentally a Portuguese citizen) for Spain.
Inscription tells the story of St. Paul's Church including its changing hands under the foreign powers who occupied Malacca. A frequent visitor happened to be St. Francis Xavier, the Jesuit missionary who preached in East Asia including China and Japan.
The old bell tower that was made into a lighthouse by the British when they took over Malacca from the Dutch.
Access to the lighthouse was via a steel ladder. It is closed to the public.

Remnants of St. Paul's Church include the entire shell and what was left of the altar. There are also the tombstones of those who were interred in the church. As is the tradition similar to the Philippines, prominent people including priests used to be buried in the church.
The Clairvoyant posing near a side entrance to the church with an old tree in the background just outside the church.
The church must have been magnificent during its time and we could imagine that it used to have stained glass windows and probably a carved door. The ruins did not have a roof and this could have also been painted with scenes from the Bible.
Posing among the huge tombstones, I was surprised they were this huge compared to the typical lapidas in old Philippine churches.
We asked some fellow Filipinos touring the area to take our photo as the sun started to set.
The church used to have a second floor.
More tombstones lined along the wall in what used to be the altar area.
A steel cage now encloses what used to be part of the altar. I was a little confused about its function as at first glance it seemed to provide protection to something sacred considering the sign on cage. On the roof of the cage, however, are slots where visitors may insert coins. There are are many of these coins inside the hole in the floor in what has become some sort of a donation pit cum wishing well.
The old trees around the church ruins may have been witnesses to whatever happened in and around the church and Melaka.
We descended the hill from another way around the church. From this path, we could get a great view of the the city including the Proclamation of Independence Memorial seen in the center for the photo.
The entrance to the path from the memorial is a fortress structure with walls that reminded us of Fort Santiago in Manila's Intramuros district.
Relief at the fortress
We decided to take an early walk the following day and we were rewarded with some great photos in the Christ Church area. Part of what was the rectory of Christ Church has been converted into the Melaka Postal Museum.

Side view of Christ Church before the crowds arrived.
St. Francis Xavier's Church was built in 1849 over the site of an old convent that was built there in 1553.
The plaque provides historical information on St. Francis Xavier's Church.
The story of St. Francis Xavier and his companion, a Japanese man named Yajiro is related in this plaque in the form of a book.
We tried some artistic shots of the church facade.
Photo of the church from across the street.
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