During our four-day exploration of Singapore we saw a very interesting mixture of historical and modern buildings and bridges.

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Financial District– Many tall office buildings in this part of downtown also include restaurants and shopping centers. We recognized a few of the names on the buildings.

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Marina Bay Sands Hotel – This hotel, with three 55-story towers and over 2,500 rooms, includes restaurants, shops, and even a museum. We saw the lobby and a few eateries as we used the elevated bridge through the hotel to the Gardens at the Bay, but unfortunately we did not go up to the top of the building to see the world’s largest rooftop infinity pool.

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The Helix– At Marina Bay we walked across this beautiful bridge which features a double helix structure and is the longest pedestrian bridge in Singapore. It is 919 feet long and made from both stainless steel and carbon steel. 

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Theatres on the Bay– This building, known by locals as The Durian, definitely got our attention. The performing arts center can seat almost 2,000 guests in the theatre and another 1,600 in the concert hall. Opened in 2002, the building’s dome shape was reportedly patterned after the Sydney Opera House, but we could not see the similarities. The exterior “spikes” are actually sunshades which allow light into the building without the glare from the sun. We learned that the exterior sunshades are professionally cleaned by hand, a job that takes about two months to complete.

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Masjid Sultan Mosque– Completed in 1928, the oldest mosque in Singapore was just two blocks away from our hotel so we walked over there one evening to take a few photos of the beautiful exterior. The large prayer hall can accommodate 5,000 worshipers and the mosque was made solely from materials donated by Muslims. 

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St. Andrew’s Cathedral – We first saw this tall, majestic cathedral as we rode on the hop-on-hop-off tour bus through the downtown area. So we decided to stop and take a closer look the next time our bus was in the area. It is the largest cathedral in the country and was built in 1856. Shortly before the fall of Singapore during World War II, the cathedral was used as an emergency hospital during the frequent air raids. Church services resumed in 1945, after the Japanese surrendered. The interior feature we liked most was the group of three colorful stained glass windows behind the altar. The center window is dedicated to Sir Stamford Raffles, founder of Singapore. Second British Resident John Crawfurd and Straits Settlements Governor Major-General William Butterworth are the dedicates of the left and right windows, respectively. The upper portions of the side windows feature the coats of arms of the two men.

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Supreme Court– This judicial building houses civil, criminal, and appellate courtrooms, as well as the Singapore Academy of Law. The narrator on our city tour bus described the design of the 2005 Supreme Court building as an office building with a space ship parked on the roof. We agreed with that description! The round top floor, occupied by the country’s highest court of appeals, is said to be a contemporary representation of the dome of the historical courthouse from the early 1800’s.

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Colorful Exterior– The largest pre-war government building, completed in 1934, now contains the offices of the Ministry of Communication & Information. The building, with colorful shutters on the 927 windows, was previously a police station with barracks and a prison. Like many other tourists, we could not resist taking a photo or two of this historic building.

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Anderson Bridge– Singapore’s history is preserved through buildings and bridges named after significant contributors to the country’s early years. This white vehicle bridge, completed in 1910, honors Sir John Anderson, governor of the Straits Settlements and high commissioner for the Federated Malay States. Just behind the bridge is the five-star Fullerton Hotel, commissioned in 1924 as part of the British colony’s centennial celebrations and originally used as the general post office. The building was named after Robert Fullerton, the first Governor of the Straits Settlements.

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Cavenagh Bridge– As we looked at sculptures and memorials along the downtown portion of the Singapore River, we came across the Cavenagh Bridge, the oldest bridge (1870) and only suspension bridge in the country. It is named in honor of William O. Cavenagh, governor of the Straits Settlement when the bridge was built, and is now used only by pedestrians and cyclists.

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After crossing the Cavenagh Bridge we walked along the other side of the Singapore River. In the photo below the Fullerton Hotel is on the right and the Asian Civilization Museum is on the left. The museum building was used as a courthouse during the mid-19th century.

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