A Famosa (6♥)

A Famosa  is a Portuguese fortress located in Malacca, Malaysia. It is among the oldest surviving European architectural remains in south east Asia. The Porta de Santiago, a small gate house, is the only part of the fortress which still remains today.

In 1511, a Portuguese fleet arrived under the command of Afonso de Albuquerque. His forces attacked and defeated the armies of the Malacca Sultanate. Moving quickly to consolidate his gains, Albuquerque had the fortress built around a natural hill near the sea. Albuquerque believed that Malacca would become an important port linking Portugal to the Spice Route in China. At this time other Portuguese were establishing outposts in such places as Macau, China and Goa, India to create a string of friendly ports for ships heading to Ming China and returning home to Portugal.

The fortress once consisted of long ramparts and four major towers. One was a four-story keep, while the others held an ammunition storage room, the residence of the captain, and an officers' quarters. Most of the village clustered in town houses inside the fortress walls. As Malacca's population expanded it outgrew the original fort and extensions were added around 1586.

The fort changed hands in 1641 when the Dutch drove the Portuguese out of Malacca.[1] The Dutch renovated the gate in 1670, which explains the logo "ANNO 1670" inscribed on the gate's arch. Above the arch is a bas-relief logo of the Dutch East India Company.

The fortress changed hands again in the late 18th century when the Dutch handed it over to the British to prevent it from falling into the hands of Napoleon's expansionist France. The English were wary of maintaining the fortification and ordered its destruction in 1806. The fort was almost totally demolished but for the timely intervention of Sir Stamford Raffles, the founder of modern Singapore, who happened to visit Malacca in 1810. Because of his passion for history, this small gate was spared from destruction.

法摩沙堡

法摩沙堡原是葡萄牙人于马六甲建立的一座堡垒，后被英国人炸毁，如今只剩下一道城门，称圣地亚哥城门（或译“圣地牙哥城门”，葡萄牙语：Porta de Santiago），成为马六甲的象征。圣地牙哥城门是通往法摩沙堡的四大通道之一，因堡垒现已只剩这一道城门，有人误用城门的名字“圣地亚哥”的称呼来代指法摩沙堡。

1511年，葡萄牙人占领马六甲以后，为了防止马六甲王朝的残余势力反攻，葡萄牙殖民统帅阿方索·德·阿尔布克尔克（Alfonso de Albuquerque）在圣保罗山下建成这座号称“东南亚最大和最坚固的堡垒”，以保护自己的臣民和香料贸易。据说在建造之时所有的石块都采自爪哇海底的陨石，并以葡萄牙保护神的名字命名为法摩沙堡。城墙厚达10米，墙内设有城楼和炮台。

1641年，荷兰人攻打马六甲，在围城战争中曾经重创这座堡垒。俟1641年荷兰占领马六甲后，于1670年将它修补扩建，并将荷兰东印度公司的名字简写“VOC”刻在城门上。

拿破仑战争爆发后，法国攻击英国的同盟国荷兰，荷兰将海外殖民地交给英国管理。1808年，英国士兵害怕归还马六甲后，荷兰人会利用堡垒对付自己，便想趁机拆毁堡垒。由于斯坦福·莱佛士爵士（开埠新加坡的功臣）和明托爵士的干涉，英国人放弃了拆除计划。但由于干涉太晚，英国士兵仍将堡垒炸毁得只剩下现在的古城门。

1977年5月12日，当地政府第168/1976的古物保护法令将城门列为历史遗迹及受保护建筑物。2003年，剩余的城墙墙基被发现，也列为古迹进行保护。