The Stadthuys and clocktower in Town Square.

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Stadthuys

Top choice in Melaka City

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This former town hall and governor's residence dates to the 1650s and is believed to be the oldest Dutch building in the East. It functioned as State Government offices until 1979. Erected after the Dutch captured Melaka in 1641, it's a reproduction of the former Stadhuis (town hall) of the Frisian town of Hoorn in the Netherlands. Today it's the main building in a sprawling museum complex and houses the History & Ethnography Museum.

Admission covers all the museums within the complex. There is no fee for guided tours, which take place at 10.30am and 2.30pm on Saturday and Sunday.

To immerse yourself in Melaka past and present, peruse the Governor's House, Democratic Government Museum, a Literature Museum focusing on Malaysian writers, Cheng Ho Gallery and the Education Museum.

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