Melaka, with its glorious past, is undoubtedly the wealthiest when it comes to history. Facing the Straits of Malacca, it is a place of intriguing Chinese streets, antique shops, old temples and reminders of European colonial powers. The historical melting-pot of cultures and races � Malay, Chinese, Chittys, the Baba, and Nyonya and the Portuguese, has very much influenced the cultural designs of homes and buildings in Melaka city, its capital.


History
Melaka was founded in 1396 by an exiled Sumatran prince named Parameswara. According to legend, Parameswara, was out hunting one day and while resting under a tree, one of his dogs cornered a mouse-deer and in defense, the mouse-deer kicked the dog smartly on its nose. Impressed by the mouse-deer�s courage and what he believed was a good omen, he decided to build his empire on this sacred land and named it after the tree he was sitting under, which was the Melaka tree.

He was also the first Malay prince to become a Muslim and inevitably, Islam became the official religion. In 1405 Admiral Cheng Ho, the �three jeweled eunuch prince� arrived in Melaka bearing gifts from the Ming Emperor, and the promise of protection. In the mid 15th century the Ming Emperors daughter arrived to wed the Sultan of Melaka to seal diplomatic relations and settled with her entourage here. By the end of the 15th century, Melaka grew to become a powerful trading empire and successfully repulsed Siamese attacks.


In 1511,Alfonso D� Albuquerque took the city for the Portuguese. In 1641 the city passed into Dutch hands after a siege lasting 8 months. In 1795, the French occupied Holland, so the British, allies of the Dutch, temporarily took over the administration of the Dutch colonies. In 1824, Melaka was ceded to the British in exchange for the Sumatran port of Bencoolen, (Bengkulu today). From 1826 onwards Melaka was ruled by the English East-India Company together with Singapore and Penang under the Straits Settlement administration.

Transport
Tampin, a town 30 km north of Malacca town, is the nearest train station that serves Malacca. There were railway tracks from Tampin to Malacca before World War II but was dismantled by the Japanese during the war for the construction of the infamous Burmese Death Railway. It was never rebuilt

Malacca has a bus station, Melaka Central which has air-conditioned waiting areas and separate areas for buses plying the town routes and for buses plying to other places in Malaysia and to Singapore. Batu Berendam Airport in Batu Berendam mainly serves chartered flights from around the region.

The Ayer Keroh exit at the North-South highway is the main entry to Malacca. There are two additional exits along the North-South highway, namely the Alor Gajah and Jasin exits.