The Portuguese built it in 1521 as a chapel on top of a hill above the A’Famosa fortress. It was passed to the Jesuit priest St. Francis Xavier in 1548.
When the Dutch wrestled Malacca from the Portuguese in 1641, it was renamed as St. Paul’s and consecrated as a Protestant Reformed church. For over 100 years, it was a Dutch house of worship.
After the British took over Malacca in 1824, this abandoned church became a storehouse for gunpowder. A lighthouse was built in front of it.