Part I of Tales of Asia – my series of talks on port cities in Southeast Asia – features Malacca and Manila, mediaeval walled cities built in the 16^th century by the Portuguese and the Spanish respectively.

Join me as we explore the cities’ rise and fall, and uncover traces of the Portuguese and Spanish heritage that still remain today.  In particular, we…

• Trace the path of the former walls of the Fortaleza de Malacca, and understand the colonial history of the city through one remaining portion of the wall – La Porta de Santiago.
• Visit the Portuguese Settlement in Melaka today to explore Kristang food and culture.
• Retrace the journey of the fabled Manila Galleon across the Pacific from Manila to Acapulco
• Revisit the walled city of Manila at the height of its splendour, in the 1700s and 1800s.
• Understand the unique mestizo architecture – the bahay na bato – that developed due to the adaptation of Spanish colonial styles to the tropics

…amongst other things.

Map of Intramuros, 1917. Private Collection.