St. Paul's Church

(Source: Internet)

St. Paul's Church is located in Penang Hill of Malacca estuary (King Berri Sura had donated the Jian Ming Emperor in the mountains as dragon tree monument, later renamed the St Paul Mountain), which was built by the Portuguese in 1521. The famous Franciscan Missionaries were buried here and a Franciscan priest statue was erected in front of the church. In 1670 the Dutch occupied Malacca and used the church as a castle. Many bullet holes can still be seen in the walls today.

In 1753, the Dutch also built a church. However the church of St. Paul was used as Dutch noble cemeteries. Now it still retains some tombstones engraved with the Latin and Portuguese. There was a tomb in the church which was Francis temporary cemetery in 1553. There was also a tomb of St. Francis. He always visited this small church when he was alive. In 1553 he was buried here. Later, his remains have been migrated to Goa in India. There is a marble statue of St. Francis in order to commemorate his stay here over 400 years ago and made contributions. Standing in the church of the hill you can overlook the whole city. Here you can also enjoy many distinctive Dutch gravestones.