Colonial Architecture in George Town (World Heritage Site), Penang Island

[Introduction]

I traveled to Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur and Penang) and Brunei for a week, while I attended my Malaysian friend’s wedding at Kuala Lumpur. In this article, I will write about colonial architecture in George Town (World Heritage Site), Penang Island, as part of Day 3.

[Visit Places (series of articles)]
* Day 1 (1) Flying to Kuala Lumpur (Related article)
* Day 1 (2) Night view of Petronas Twin Towers (Related article)
* Day 2 (1) Petronas Twin Towers and Suria KLCC (Related article)
* Day 2 (2) Aquaria KLCC (Related article)
* Day 2 (3) Bukit Bintang (Related article)
* Day 3 (1) Colonial architecture in Penang (This article)
* Day 3 (2) Pinang Peranakan Mansion and Eastern & Oriental Hotel (Related article)
* Day 3 (3) Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion (Blue Mansion) (Related article)
* Day 4 (1) Ethnic architecture in Penang (Related article)
* Day 4 (2) Art works in Penang (Related article)
* Day 5 (1) Masjid Negara and Islamic Arts Museum (Related article)
* Day 5 (2) Chinatown (Related article)
* Day 6 (1) Royal Regalia (Related article)
* Day 6 (2) Old Mosque (Related article)
* Day 7 (1) Water Village, New Mosque and Gadong area (Related article)
* Day 7 (2) Empire Hotel (Related article)
(Day 1, 2, 5, 6: Kuala Lumpur, Day 3, 4: Penang, Day 6, 7: Brunei)

[Travel Dates]
2015.9.22 – 29

NOTE: as the blog title suggests, I mainly write about my travel around Japan, but I will write about my overseas travel in this series.

[Main Part]

Fly from Kuala Lumpur to Penang Island

I will leave Kuala Lumpur where I stayed on Day 1 and 2, and move to Penang Island. It takes about 1 hour by flight. There are several airlines that provide flights between Kuala Lumpur and Penang and I chose AirAsia. The Kuala Lumpur international airport (KLIA) has a terminal that entirely caters to LCC (KLIA2). KLIA used to have the low-cost carrier terminal (LCCT), but KLIA2 was newly constructed in 2014. I have used LCCT before and felt it was a little bit shabby. but KLIA2 was remodelled to be fashionable.

At KLIA2

Arrived at Penang international airport

Colonial Architecture in George Town (World Heritage Site)

Activities in Penang Island for tourists are mainly, (1) to go for a stroll in George Town (World Heritage Site), or (2) to enjoy beach resorts. This time I focused on (1), as my stay in Penang was limited to two days.

Nevertheless, George Town is broader than expected and tourist spots differ depending on areas. First, I went around colonial architecture that was mainly spotted in the north side (sea side) of George Town. These buildings were built around 17-18 century when the British Empire colonized Penang Island. Here are some pictures I took there.

Cathedral of the Assumptions.

St. George’s Church.

A building with orange roof.

Penang High Court Building.

Town Hall.

City Hall.

A street along the sea.

Fort Cornwallis.

Aligned canons.

Zoom-up of canons.

Panels for commemorative photos

Mast to watch on.

I left Fort Cornwallis and resumed stroll in George Town.

Victoria Memorial Clock Tower.

Ministry office building.

Finally, Penang Tourist Information Center.

[Closing]

That’s it for the article about colonial architecture in George Town (World Heritage Site), Penang Island.  Chalky buildings of colonial architecture with blue sky were very beautiful. In particular, as the sky in Kuala Lumpur was overcast due to haze, I had such an impression more 🙂

In the next article, I will write about Pinang Peranakan Mansion and Eastern & Oriental Hotel in George Town.

［Related Link］
Tourism Malaysia (Penang)
Welcome to VisitPenang
Tourism Penang