St Paul's Church Melaka

Armless Statue
Standing right in the church complex is the armless marble statue of St. Francis Xavier. There’s also an open tomb of St. Xavier in the church surrounded by a fence. Here, St. Xavier was buried temporarily for 9 months before being taken to Goa. In 1614, St. Xavier’s right forearm was severed on the order of Vatican to be taken to Rome. It’s believed that even after 60 years of his death, blood still dripped from his severed arm.  In 1953, a statue was erected in his commemoration in the church complex. The day after the statue was consecrated, a branch of a Casuarina tree fell and severed the right forearm.

Graveyard
The dilapidated walls of the church are lined with tombstones of noblemen and their spouses with Portuguese inscriptions on them including the tombstone of Pedro Martins (the second Bishop of Funay, Japan). This Dutch burial vault was built in 1592. The inscriptions have also been translated to English so that everyone can comprehend them.

The church is located on the summit of St. Paul Hill in the city centre. One can walk up there from Jalan Kota street and from the gate of Porta De Santiago.