civic district II

Wednesday, February 4, 2009, 11:31 PM

Armenian Church

The Armenian church is the oldest church in Singapore and it was built by George Drumgoole Coleman in 1833. By 1835, the building was completed and was dedicated to St Gregory the Illuminator. He was the first Patriarch of the Church in Armenia. The architectural style of the exterior building is neo classical while the interior design follow traditional Armenian style.

On the church ground includes a memorial garden to the Armenians. Interestingly, the Memorial Garden was never actually used as a burial ground. The tombstones that lie there were all transported from the Christian cemetry in Bukit Timah when it was exhumed in 1988. The grave of Agnes Joaquim, who was the "founder" of Singapore's national flower, can be found here.

Doorway to the inside of the church

Through this trip, I have learned a lot from this trip. Although I have been to some of the places before, I did not read or bother to know much about the history of the place till that day. Moreover, I learnt a lot about my primary school (SNGS), which was at CHIJMES. Furthermore, I learnt about the different architecture style and the interesting facts about the fact. Such as, St. Andrew's Cathedral was strike by lighting TWICE. The Armenian Church and the Tao Nan School were the two places, which I found very interesting as We have a lot of difficulty finding it. Later we found out that Tao Nao was actually the Peranakan Museum and the Armenian Church is beside the firestation. With this chance, it was the first time that I stepped into Raffles Hotel's Lobby. It was totally what I did not expect. I expected a rather modernized instead, it having a very colonial feels to it and you would not have expected. Going to Fort Canning was quite fun. We had to climb tons of steps to reach the top and the view was great.

clara

I have definitely benefitted greatly from this heritage trail. It has made the learning of history become much more interesting and alive. I find this heritage trail especially useful as it has helped me to better appreciate the history of Singapore and also allowed me to take a very informative look into the rich cultural history and heritage of Singapore. Being able to witness the historical buildings is undoubtedly not as passive as obtaining information and learning new facts and knowledge from books or the internet. As history teachers, I feel that it is important that we ourselves are knowledgable and are able to appreciate Singapore’s treasured past.

Vanessa

I felt that I have learnt alot of Singapore's history through this heritage trail. It was interesting to visit old churches and to learn that the pioneers' graves are still there( at the Armenian Church). One very interesting thing I found was that there were lots of conflicts that aroused from the national flower- Miss Vanda Joaquim. Furthermore, it is indeed interesting to know that the Armenian church has many old and interesting history. The fire station was also very interesting and it was my first time being the closest to a fire station. It was indeed interesting to visit the interior of the fire station and to understand more about the history of Singapore's first fire station. By knowing more about Singapore's history, I feel that it is good for me as I would treasure more in pertaining to what I have today.

Wen Chien

The whole journey was a learning experience. Previously I did not even know that there was an Armenian Church or that they were one of the early settlers in Singapore. Where have they gone to now? I realized that I was quite ignorant about the early settlers. I just lump them all under the title Caucasians. Therefore now that I have e gone for the trail, I am informed of the origin of the settlers. Some were Dutch, most were British. What I found most interesting was the St Andrew’s Cathedral. It could probably e due to the Guide that was there. She was this 80 something woman who was still fit and was very proficient in English. Despite her age she was cheerful at 10 in the morning. What’s more she was very informative. She informed us that the church was struck by lightning twice and that convicts build the original building. Therefore I think that having a tour guide would make the whole trip much more engaging. The down side to the trail was that it was scattered all around the same place. Hence at the end of the day I realize that were walking in circles. Moreover it was quite embarrassing to be labeled as a tourist as this is usually a touristy thing to do. But we sucked it up and managed to complete the trail. Another thing that I think is important when you embark on such a trail is the company that you have. For me, my group was quite lively and very focused but as usual at time we sidetracked and On the whole it was rather tiring walking under the hot sun and searching for that little red plaque to obtain the information required. But it was rewarding as I manage to learn a lot about these once famous place. I also had a chance to visit these places which we as normal Singapore do not visit at all.

Munirah

Awesome. That is one word to describe my experience for the trail I went. It was definitely an eye-opening event for me. Being that someone who travels to town yet not noticing the heritage and story behind each building. This is especially true for certain buildings like the MICA building and the central fire station which I always passed-by but did not notice its significance until the day we ventured beyond its entrance. Apart from that, I was intrigued by the history of the different churches and its structural features. Although it was built like years ago, the structure was still strong as ever. This is definitely a great way to know my History mates better. Overall, I thought this experience of ourselves participating in the exploration of finding out more about the history of places in Singapore was definitely very interactive.
Shameera

Heritage Trail
travel profile looking back rewinds