The golden domes
A white building from 1912.
CEphoto, Uwe Aranas — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Marcin Konsek — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Marcin Konsek — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Marcin Konsek — CC BY-SA 4.0
An elegant museum in a white building crowned by two golden onion domes, built in 1912 as the Malacca Club, the social centre of the British in Malaya, and turned by Malaysia's first prime minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman, into a memorial to the proclamation of independence, opened on 31 August 1985. The museum shows documents and photographs from the Malacca Sultanate through the colonial era to the path to independence and Malaysia's modern development. It explains how Tunku Abdul Rahman, back from the London negotiations in 1956, announced in Malacca the date of the country's independence, won in 1957. Entry is free, and it is run by the National Archives of Malaysia. It opens from nine to five, with a Friday break from noon to three, and closes on Mondays except during school and public holidays. It lies near the A Famosa gate and the Sultanate Palace, so fit it into a tour of the historic hill. The museum is air-conditioned, the visit takes about an hour, and it is a pleasant refuge from the midday heat.
A white building from 1912.
From the sultanate to modern Malaysia.
Where the independence date was announced in 1956.
Bandar Hilir, near A Famosa, Malacca old town
A FamosaAll that remains of the oldest European fortress in Southeast Asia is a single s1 minute walk4.3
Melaka Sultanate Palace MuseumBefore the Portuguese arrived in 1511, Malacca was the capital of a Muslim sulta2 minutes walk4.3
St Paul's ChurchThe roofless ruin of a church on top of the hill overlooking old Malacca and the3 minutes walk4.5
Melaka Islamic MuseumA small museum in the heart of historic Malacca, telling the story of Islam in a3 minutes walk
Stadthuys and Dutch SquareEverything around you is red: the Stadthuys, completed by the Dutch around 1650 4 minutes walk4.5Entry is free and the building is lovely and air-conditioned, so it is a comfortable stop on the historic hill even for non-specialists. Half an hour gives a quick overview.