Petronas Towers

Lonely Planet review

There could be no better symbol of KL than the iconic Petronas Towers, the headquarters of the national oil and gas company Petronas. These shimmering chrome towers rise above the city like twin silver rockets plucked from an early episode of Flash Gordon, a perfect allegory for the meteoric rise of KL from tin mine to space-age metropolis.

Inspired by traditional ceremonial objects and motifs from Islamic art, it was created by the Argentinean architect Cesar Pelli. The cross-section of each tower is an eight-sided star that echoes the patterns from Arabic tiles, the five tiers represent the five pillars of Islam and the crowning masts call to mind two gigantic minarets.

The towers are the focal point of the enormous KLCC development, which includes a sprawling tropical park, a huge convention centre, an aquarium, an excellent kids' museum, a world-class concert hall and one of KL's most ostentatious shopping centres. One tower is occupied by Petronas while the other is leased out to private companies, most notably Al Jazeera, Bloomberg, IBM, Microsoft and Boeing.

Opened in 1998, the steel-clad twin towers rise 451.9m above street level. At the time, the towers were officially recognised as the tallest building in the world, though only through a technicality - the two spires on the roof tops were classified as 'architectural details', giving the towers a height advantage over several buildings with higher roofs, higher pinnacles and more occupied floors. The exulted status of the twin towers was short-lived: the Taipei 101 tower eclipsed the Petronas Towers in 2003, and at the time or writing the Burj Dubai tower looked set to steal the world record upon completion in 2008.

The highest visitors can go is the 41st-floor Skybridge, which connects the two towers at a modest 170m above street level. To get hold of one of the 1200 free tickets issued daily, you'll need to join the line at the ticket counter in the basement by at least 08:30 ; tickets (only one per person) are usually gone by 11:00 each morning. Weekdays tend to be less hectic than weekends and public holidays.