St Paul's Church

Brief Introduction

The ruin of St.Paul′s Church is located on top of St.Paul′s Hill and was one of five churches in the fortress complex A Famosa on the hill that was built by the Portuguese in 1521.
The St. Paul's Church of Melaka was originally a Portuguese chapel built by

Duarte Coelho in 1521 in gratitude to Our Lady of Grace for a miraculous escape from an attack on his ship by a fleet in the South China Sea.

This chapel was known as Chapel of the Mother of God (Madre de Deus) or Our Ladyof the Hill (Nossa Senhora do Oiteiro).
The body of St. Francis Xavier was laid to rest at the church. His body was then transferred to Basilica of Bom Jesus in Goa, India.
In 1952, a statue of St. Francis Xavier was built to commemorate the passing of the saint.
Canonization of St. Francis Xavier was done in 1614. The Pope requested Francis’s right arm to be brought to Rome, in order to be canonized.
On the morning after the consecration ceremony, a large casuarina tree fell on it and broke off the right arm, resulted in a statue with missing arm until today.
In 1641, the Dutch took over Melaka and renamed the chapel to St. Paul’s Church unti they completed their own church, Christ Church. When the Christ Church was completed, St. Paul’s Church became a Dutch graveyard.

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