National Textiles Museum

Chinatown, Merdeka Square & Bukit Nanas


This excellent themed museum occupies an elegant Mogul-style building originally constructed for the railway works department. The lower floors cover the history of textiles, in particular Malaysian fabrics such as songket (silk or cotton with gold threading), and the traditional processes and machinery used in manufacturing. Gorgeous examples of clothing and fabric abound. The upper floors cover Malaysian fabrics and design motifs in greater detail, as well as items for personal adornment such as jewellery and headgear.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Chinatown, Merdeka Square & Bukit Nanas attractions

1. Former Standard Charter Bank

0.02 MILES

One of the most handsome pieces of architecture around Merdeka Sq, this was the Standard Charter Bank when first built in 1891. It's currently closed.

2. KL City Gallery

0.04 MILES

The former Government Printing Office of the British Malaya Administration was designed by AC Norman and J Russell and built 1898. It now houses a small…

3. Victorian Fountain

0.08 MILES

This fountain dating from 1904 is said to have been built in memory of an inspector of the Selangor Military; at one time horses would have lapped water…

4. Sultan Abdul Samad Building

0.11 MILES

Seizing attention with its 41m clock tower, coppery domes and lacy arches, this was the first public building in Malaysia designed in the Mogul (or Indo…

5. Merdeka Square

0.12 MILES

The huge open square, where Malaysian independence was declared in 1957, is speared by a 95m flagpole, one of the world's tallest. In the British era, the…

6. Medan Pasar

0.13 MILES

Pedestrianised Medan Pasar was once the heart of Chinatown. Kapitan Yap Ah Loy, often cited as one of KL's founders, lived here, and in addition to…

7. RUANG by Think City

0.14 MILES

The urban rejuvenation outfit Think City has taken over the elegant art deco OCBC building, originally designed in 1938 by British architect Arthur Oakley…

8. Masjid Jamek Sultan Abdul Samad

0.17 MILES

This graceful, onion-domed mosque, designed by British architect AB Hubback, borrows Mogul and Moorish styles with its brick-and-plaster banded minarets…