The old fort in Malacca was constructed in 1511 by the Portuguese following their conquest of Malacca. Called ‘A Farmosa’, meaning ‘the famous’ in Portuguese, the original structure had four main towers and was constructed with bricks from Muslim structures. The Dutch took over the fort after driving the Portuguese out of Malacca in 1641 and renovated the main gate of the fortification in 1670. During the Dutch conflict with Napoleonic France, Malacca was handed over to the British to prevent it from falling into French hands. To deny its possible use by any French forces in the region, the destruction of the fort was ordered in 1806. Most of the structure was demolished except for a small gate, the Porta de Santiago, following the intervention of Sir Stamford Raffles when he visited the town in 1810.
