St Paul's Church

Lonely Planet review

St Paul's Church is a wonderfully breezy sanctuary reached after a steep and sweaty climb up a flight of stairs. Originally built by a Portuguese captain in 1521 as the small Our Lady of the Hill chapel, St Paul's Church is a sublime testament to Catholicism in East Asia and offers bright views over Melaka from the summit of knobby Bukit St Paul.

Inside the decaying stone interior are hefty, intricately engraved tombstones (of the Dutch nobility that are buried here) that lend an eerie air to an otherwise light atmosphere. The church was regularly visited by St Francis Xavier, who performed several 'miracles' in the church, and following his death in China the saint's body was temporarily interred here for nine months before being transferred to Goa, where it remains today. Visitors can now look into his ancient tomb (surrounded by a wire fence) in the centre of the church, and a marble statue of the saint gazes wistfully over his beloved city.

In 1556 St Paul's was enlarged to two storeys, and a tower was added to the front in 1590. The church was renamed following the Dutch takeover, but when the Dutch completed their own Christ Church at the base of the hill, it fell into disuse. Under the British it lost the tower, although a lighthouse was built, and the church eventually ended up as a storehouse for gunpowder. The church has been in ruins for more than 150 years.