The clock tower
Forty-one metres over the facade, the old town's emblem.
Ahmad Rithauddin from Ampang, malaysia — CC BY 2.0 · Marcin Konsek — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Marcin Konsek — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Marcin Konsek — CC BY-SA 4.0
Gleaming copper domes, horseshoe arches and a forty-one-metre clock tower: finished in 1897, this is Kuala Lumpur's most famous historic facade and the picture in every guidebook to the city. British engineers designed it in a style they called Moorish-Indian, a mix of Mughal India and the architecture of al-Andalus and Morocco. It was built for the British colonial administration, then housed the superior courts for decades, and today it is a government building whose interior is not usually open to visitors. So the visit here is to the facade, and it is worth it: red brick, white columns and domes shining in the sun, and a building that looks even better after dark when the whole front is lit. The best place to see it is from Merdeka Square opposite, where you can take in the full length of a frontage close to 150 metres long. On 31 August it forms the backdrop to the National Day parade and the road in front fills with crowds. The visit is short and free, and it combines naturally with Merdeka Square and Masjid Jamek a few steps away; Masjid Jamek light-rail station is the nearest stop.
Forty-one metres over the facade, the old town's emblem.
Shining domes and horseshoe arches in the Moorish-Indian style.
The whole facade lit up after dark.
Jalan Raja, facing Merdeka Square, Kuala Lumpur
Merdeka SquareAt midnight on 31 August 1957 the Union Jack came down here and the flag of an i1 minute walk4.6
Sultan Abdul Samad Jamek MosqueThis is where Kuala Lumpur was born. At exactly this spot the Klang and Gombak r2 minutes walk4.5
Central Market (Pasar Seni)A pale-blue Art Deco building from 1937 that was once the city's fish and vegeta5 minutes walk4.5
Petaling Street (Chinatown)A street under a long green canopy, lined with stalls of bags, watches, clothes 7 minutes walk4.0
Sri Maha Mariamman TempleA twenty-two-metre gateway tower covered in hundreds of painted carved figures r8 minutes walk4.5Usually not; it is a government building. The visit is to the facade from Merdeka Square, which is the best of it anyway.