第九站： 圣保罗山教堂遗址 • St. Paul’s Church

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今天带你们看看圣保罗教堂遗址，由于此地是历史痕迹，所以我不多说，免得给错信息。嘿嘿～ 所以，我从该遗址前拍了一些介绍，让大家一起认识这一座古老的建筑吧！（太好了，今天只需要抄写历史！！！）

圣保罗山教堂遗址

根据旅游局的资料：圣保罗山教堂是国内最古老的天主教堂，在1521年由一名葡萄牙将领Duarto Coelho创建。初建时，它仅是一间小小的礼拜堂，当时不但是葡人宗教圣地，也是安宁的象征，因为凭着其高居临夏的战略位置可以避免敌军从南中国海处进攻，因此被誉为“Noas Senhora”——山上的贵妇。

在1545年至1553年之间，传教圣士圣芳济每次到马六甲，都会到此处住宿。而当这名被虔诚信徒视为圣人的圣芳济临终前，曾清楚的交代追随者必须将其遗体放在该处长达九个月之久，过后才运往印度。

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。

这座有葡人创建，具有历史性的教堂在1745年被摧毁，但其墙壁部分曾进一步的被强化，并被荷兰人改为一座坚固的堡垒。同时，荷兰人也在其前部兴建了一座灯塔，当时虽然灯塔是与教堂相连的，但却在1934年被分隔。一直以来，此教堂都具有“多重身份”，除了曾是堡垒及宗教地之外，它也是一个墓地，曾有不少荷兰人及葡萄牙人的遗体安葬在此地，同时此处也设有不少纪念碑。

然而，在英殖民地时，这座教堂曾是英国人的弹药库，1810-1811年之间，英国人与爪哇开战时，他们就将弹药收藏在此处。过去它曾被英国人用为进行升旗礼的地点，同时也被改为升旗山，但此名并没有一直被延用。而升旗的旗杆也被拆除，过后它就一直被荒废，直到甲州政府重新修复，它才再次成为甲州的名胜之一。目前圣保罗教堂已列为州内古老建筑物之一，并在1976年古物保护令第168条文下被列为受保护的古迹。

St. Paul’s Church

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 Christ Church 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 12^th May 1977.