它於1548年移交给“Society of Jesus”,并於1556年扩建,增加二层楼,重新命名“Annunciation”。1950年,教堂增一座高塔,但这座塔却与宗教扯不上任何关系,其用处在于观察海上敌军行踪。在1641年,当荷兰人从葡萄牙人手中夺过马六甲是,他们将之更名为圣保罗教堂。同时,这座曾用于进行天主教宗教礼仪及习俗的教堂改为只供基督教——新教活动用途,并延用了112年,直至他们本身的教堂——Christ Church 在1753年完成。
This church was originally a small chapel built by a Portuguese Captain called Duarto Coelho in 1521 A.D. and called “Nosa Senhora – Our Lady of the Hill”. The chapel was handed over to the “Society of Jesus” in 1548 and enlarged in 1556 with the addition of a second storey and renamed “Annunciation”. A tower was added in 1590.
When the Dutch took over Melaka from the Portuguese, they changed its name to St. Paul’s Church and used it for 112 years until they own church, the ChristChurch was completed in 1753.
St. Paul’s Church lost its tower when the British took over but has one new feature added to it – the light house at the front. The British however did not use the church for worship, but used it instead for the storage of gunpowder. They also erected a tall flagpole and renamed the hill on which the church is sited to Flagstaff Gill of gunpowder. The name however did not last. The flagpole was later taken down and the church abandoned.
Old tombstones found inside the ruins bear silent testimony to the final resting place of several Dutch and Portuguese nationals.
The renowned Spanish-born Jesuit missionary, St Francis Xavier was a regular visitor to this church from 1545 to 1552 and when he died his body was interred here for nine months before being exhumed and taken to his final resting place in Goa, India. A statue of St. Francis was built in 1952 to commemorate his passing and internment here.
The St. Paul’s Church ruins were gazetted as an old monument and historical site under the Antiquities Act No. 168/1976 on 12th May 1977.