Sultan Mosque (Masjid Sultan)
Raffles paid $3,000 toward this mosque — his side of the deal when Sultan Hussein Shah handed the British Singapore.
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Built in 1826 beside the Sultan's own palace, rebuilt in 1932 after the original crumbled, and now gazetted as a national monument. It survived Japanese air raids in WWII and became the flashpoint of the 1950 Maria Hertogh Riots when rioters took shelter inside. The land itself was expanded in 1875 when the Sultan's grandson bought adjacent plots and donated them as a religious endowment.
What to look for
- The domed mausoleum behind the main building — established in the 1920s and reserved exclusively for relatives of Sultan Hussein Shah
- The minarets, which were renovated in 1936 specifically to install loudspeakers for the adhan
- The footprint of the grounds, expanded by Tunku Alam in 1875 through purchased land donated as awqaf (religious endowment)
Located in Kampong Glam, Rochor — an active place of worship and gazetted national monument.
Sultan Mosque (Masjid Sultan) is one of 30 sights worth the detour in Singapore, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Singapore pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Singapore
- Singapore Botanic GardensThe world's only tropical UNESCO garden — where 1920s rubber supplied half the planet's latex and orchids now carry diplomats' names.
- Marina Bay SandsA 150-metre infinity pool balanced on the world's largest public cantilevered platform, jutting 66.5 metres past the edge of its own tower.
- Marina Bay Street CircuitLewis Hamilton said this 4.927 km loop was twice as physically punishing as Monaco — and you can walk every metre of it.
- Marina BayThe entire bay you're standing beside was open sea until 1992 — 38 years of reclamation drained the anchorage and pushed the Singapore River's mouth inland.
- Gardens by the BayThe world's largest glass greenhouse anchors a 105-hectare park on Singapore's Marina Reservoir.
- Singapore FlyerFor six years this was the tallest Ferris wheel on earth — Las Vegas finally beat it in 2014, by just 2.6 metres.