A Famosa (Malay: Kota A Famosa; "The Famous" in Portuguese) was a Portuguese

fortress located in Malacca, Malaysia. It is among the oldest surviving European

architectural remains in south east Asia. The Porta de Santiago, a small gate house,
is the only part of the fortress which still remains today.

The name is often mispronounced /e/ Famosa, even among Malaysians, as though
the Portuguese definite article a were the English letter A. A more authentic
pronunciation would be // Famosa.

History
"The Old Fort Gateway, Malacca." Local children posing before the Porta de
Santiago. From a postcard circa 1910-1920

In 1511, a Portuguese fleet arrived under the command of Afonso de Albuquerque.

His forces attacked and defeated the armies of the Malacca Sultanate. Moving
quickly to consolidate his gains, Albuquerque had the fortress built around a natural
hill near the sea. Albuquerque believed that Malacca would become an important
port linking Portugal to the Spice Route in China. At this time other Portuguese were
establishing outposts in such places as Macau, China and Goa, India to create a
string of friendly ports for ships heading to Ming China and returning home to
Portugal.

The fortress once consisted of long ramparts and four major towers. One was a four-
story keep, while the others held an ammunition storage room, the residence of the
captain, and an officers' quarters. Most of the village clustered in town houses
inside the fortress walls. As Malacca's population expanded it outgrew the original
fort and extensions were added around 1586.

The fort changed hands in 1641 when the Dutch drove the Portuguese out of
Malacca.[1] The Dutch renovated the gate in 1670, which explains the logo "ANNO
1670" inscribed on the gate's arch. Above the arch is a bas-relief logo of the Dutch
East India Company.

The fortress changed hands again in the late 18th century when the Dutch handed
it over to the British to prevent it from falling into the hands of Napoleon's
expansionist France. The English were wary of maintaining the fortification and
ordered its destruction in 1806. The fort was almost totally demolished but for the
timely intervention of Sir Stamford Raffles, the founder of modern Singapore, who
was sent on sick leave from Penang to Malacca in 1807. Because of his passion for
history, this small gate was spared from destruction.

Archaeological finding

In late November 2006, a structure part of the fort, believed to be the Bastion
Middleburg was accidentally uncovered during the construction of 110 meter
revolving tower in Malacca Town.[2] The construction of the tower was ceased and
its site was subsequently shifted to the popular district of Bandar Hilir on Jalan
Merdeka where it was officially opened to the public on 18 April 2008. Malacca
Museums Corporation suspects the structure was built by the Dutch during the
Dutch occupation of Malacca from 1641 to 1824.

Earlier in June 2003, a watchtower named Santiago Bastion was discovered during
the construction of Dataran Pahlawan.[3]