The Historical City Of Malacca

Welcome to Malacca World Heritage City. On this site you
will find comprehensive listing with information on almost
every aspect of visiting and living in Malacca.

Malacca Tourism
· Chinese temples
  · Cheng Hoon Teng Temple
· Hindu temples
  · Comming soon
· Churches
  · Christ Church
  · St. Francis Xavier's Church
  · St. Paul's church
· Mosques
  · Comming soon
· Museums
  · Cheng Ho Cultural Museum
  · Governor's Museum
  · Malaysia Youth Museum
  · Maritime Museum
  · Melaka Islamic Museum
  · Melaka Umno Museum
  · Museum of Architecture
  · Museum of History and Ethnography
· Heritage Sites
  · 8 Heeren Street
  · Bastion House
  · Dutch Graveyard
  · Dutch Square
  · Fortaleza de Malaca
  · Hang Jebat Mausoleum
  · Malacca River
  · Porta de Santiago
  · Proclamation of Independence Memorial
  · Stadthuys
  · St. Paul's Church
  · Tan Kim Seng Bridge
· Malacca clan associations
  · Eng Choon Association
  · Melaka Hainan Association
· Street names
  · Blacksmith Street / Jalan Tukang Besi
  · Church Street / Jalan Gereja
  · Fort Road / Jalan Kota
  · Jonker Street / Jalan Hang Jebat
  · Jonker Walk (Night Market)
  · Riverside / Jalan Laksamana
  · Temple Street / Jalan Tokong

Malacca River

The Malacca River is the river that cuts across Malacca town, on its way to the Straits of Malacca. It separates the civic district clustered at the foot of St Paul's Hill, from the residential and commercial district of Heeren Street and Jonker Street.

Malacca plays an important role in the development of Malacca. It was near the mouth of this river that the Hindu prince Parameswara - that's his title rather than name - of Sumatra settled and established his kingdom at the beginning of the 15th century. His palace was built on the east bank of the river, at the foot of Malacca Hill (present day St Paul's Hill).

In those early days and through the centuries later, Malacca River was an important conduit for trade. In addition to being a source of fresh water, it enabled access to the interior, so that forest produce such as rattan, canes, gums and resins, could to be brought down to the market. By taking control of the river, the Portuguese conquered Malacca.

In the 19th century, the wealthy Straits Chinese bought properties on the northwest bank of the river, along roads such as Heeren and Jonker Streets. These Chinese households are urban, built of bricks, are uniform and numbered, and constrast sharply with the traditional kampung houses of the Malays.

Today, the Malacca River has been cleaned up and rehabilitated. Smart looking (and underused) cafes line its banks. There is also a Malacca River boat ride. The ride takes 45 minutes. The fare, at time of writing, is RM7 for adults and RM3 for children. The tour starts at the Malacca River Boat Jetty near the Dutch Square (Town Square). This boat ride is now quite famous, having even appeared in the American movie "Entrapment" in 1998.

Due to tidal conditions, the boat ride is only available during high tide, so visitors are advised to check on this beforehand. Furthermore, the ride will only proceed when there are at least 8 passengers. The ride takes you along the river from the mouth all the way to Kampung Morten, covering a distance of 10 km.

As you cruise up the river, you will be able to see old shop houses along its banks. These shophouses have their warehouses, called godowns (after the Malay word gudang), built at their back, so that goods can unloaded directly from the river into them. Up until 2001, it was still possible to see boats unloading timber from Indonesia. Since 2002, these barter trade activities have been shifted elsewhere, and the river is now maintained solely for tourism purposes.

After the Malacca Bridge near the Dutch Square, the second bridge you will pass under is the Chan Boon Cheng Bridge. Originally, a steel fabricated bridge built in 1908 linked the old quarters of Chinatown (called Kampung Pantai) on the west bank of the river to Jalan Bunga Raya, the road leading into the new sector of Malacca New Chinatown (east bank). In 1963, a new concrete bridge was built to replace the steel one, and that's the bridge you would see today. During the Japanese Occupation, from 1942 to 1945, the Japanese forces placed the beheaded heads of their victims at the foot of this bridge as a warning to the Malacca community to toe the line.

After the Chan Boon Cheng Bridge, the next bridge across the river is a foot bridge which the locals call the Ghostbridge of Malacca. It links Kampung Pantai with Kampung Jawa. How it got the name remains a mystery.

Further on, another pedestrian bridge called the Old Market Bridge can be seen. This bridge links Kampung Hulu with the former Central Market and Jalan Kee Ann. Fishing boats are berthed here. From 1930's until 1991, the Malacca Central Market was located on the right bank of the river. Fishing boats unload their catches here. Unfortunately, the Victorian style Central Market was demolished in the 1990's, and the market shifted further upstream. The restaurant which appeared in a scene in the 1998 Hollywood movie "Entrapment" can be seen here. This riverside restaurant is just before the pedestrian footbridge. Local Chinese cuisine is cooked to order.

A short distance from the former Central Market is the Jalan Hang Tuah Bridge. It links Jalan Munshi Abdullah with Jalan Hang Tuah. The Cathay Cinema used to be located right at the bank of the river but due to changing public viewing habits, it was closed down. On the left bank of the river is the Express Bus Terminal, where visitors can get buses to various places in Malaysia and Singapore.

Just before arriving at Kampung Morten, you can see the ruins and columns of the "Church of Rosario" on the right side of the river. The ruins are very near to the St.Peter's Church which was built in the 1710.

The final sight before heading back on your cruise is the famous "Kampung Morten" on the left bank. This is a typical Malay kampung or village. Upon reaching the village, the river boat makes a U-turn and heads back to the jetty. The last bridge over the Malacca River that you will cross is the Sungei Melaka Bridge. Opened in June 2001, it crosses the Malacca River mouth near the river boat Jetty.

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We recommend the following site(s):
· The Dutch in Malaysia: Dutchmalaysia.net
· Malacca on Wikipedia: Wikipedia.org