St Paul's Church is a ruin on top of St. Paul's Hill, which was originally called Malacca Hill. St. Paul's Church started off as a small chapel built by the Portuguese, and was called the Chapel of the Mother of God or Igreja de Madre de Deus, or Our Lady of the Hill. According to 16th century Portuguese chronicler, João de Barros, Nossa Senhora do Oiteiro was not built by the Portuguese administrators, but by a Portuguese nobleman called Duarte Coelho. He did it as an act of gratitude following his miraculous escape from a tempest in the South China Sea. He dedicated the chapel to Our Lady of Grace in 1520-21. The Church of the Mother of God and a school were located on the top of the hill. When the Dutch wrestled Malacca from the Portuguese in 1641, they destroyed all the Portuguese buildings except for the fortress, on which they placed the Dutch emblem. The Dutch also took over the Portuguese chapel on top of the hill, repaired and reconsecrated it into a Dutch Reformed Church, calling it St. Paul's Church, a name which remains until today. The Dutch used it for their worship for the next 112 years, until they built their own church at the foot of the hill, Christ Church. St. Paul's Church was then abandoned. When the British took over Malacca in 1824, the St. Paul's Church had lost its tower. However, the British added a lighthouse in front of it. Instead of being used it as a place of worship, the Church became a convenient storehouse for British gun powder. The Statue of St. Francis Xavier was added in 1954.
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