Behind the Singapore History Museum at Stamford Street, situated on top of the hill, is Fort Canning. You could possibly get into Fort Canning via several accesses - the Park Mall underpass, the actual National Library underpass, the Hill Street Food Centre and also the River Valley Swimming Complex.
Besides as being a welcome respite of quiet greenery in the town, it is also a historical area. In ancient times, Fort Canning Slope was known as Forbidden Slope, and archeologists have found Javanese artifacts relationship from the 14th century, whenever Singapore was part of the actual Majapahit empire. The hill, holy to the Malays, also offers the shrine of Sultan Iskandar Shah, the final monarch of the old empire of Singapura.
When Stamford Raffles arrived to Singapore, he built their bungalow - later known as Federal government House - on top of the actual hill. The British army, between 1859 as well as 1861, built an arms shop, barracks and hospitals, and the actual buildings became known as Fort Canning. These days, only ruins of the fortification are left, along with a number of well-preserved underground tunnels. The fort is surrounded by the quiet park which also holds a classic Christian cemetery. The short but heartfelt inscriptions on the tombstones provide a compelling, even touching, glimpse of Singapore's earlier colonial settlers.
These days, Fort Canning is really a common venue for outdoor disciplines events. Ballet Under the Stars is really a regular feature, while many of Singapore's youthful dramatists have made clever make use of of the historic ruins as the backdrop for their plays. The Singapore Drama Centre can be found at the bottom of the actual hill, while the Singapore Dance Theatre is located in Fort Canning Centre at the actual summit. In recent years, Fort Canning is just about the site for the highly well-liked Womad, an annual event featuring Globe Music performers from all over the world.
You will also found the actual Battle Box, situated inside what used to function as the largest underground military operations complicated in Singapore. The complex had been part of the Malaya Order Headquarters during World War II. The actual Battle Box reenacts, with the aid of video and sound clips, animatronics and figurines the fateful day time on February 15, 1942 which British officers decided to submit Singapore to the Japanese.
