One of the oldest museums on this island is the "National Museum of Singapore." Officially founded by the Singapore Institute Committee in 1849 as a section of the Raffles Library and Museum, its first conception was stated by Sir Stamford Raffles in a memo dated in 1823. During its early years, the museum's location changed several times, until it settled in its present, permanent location next to Fort Canning Park in 1887. Today, it is one of four national museums in the country (including the Singapore Art Museum and two Asian Civilisation museums). As a center for research and knowledge, the National Museum of Singapore focuses its exhibits on depicting the history of the country. Since museums are attractions that we tend to gravitate towards, and so many folks that we met here extolled the virtues of this particular museum, we knew that we just had to explore it. Getting there was an easy twenty minute walk from our apartment, and since the country was celebrating Chinese New Year, admission was free. With its main address on Stamford Road, the National Museum of Singapore backs up to Fort Canning Park. In its early history, the museum was known for its zoological collections of Southeast Asia. Following Singapore's independence in 1965, the zoological collections were moved to the biology department of the National University of Singapore, while the remaining collections, focusing on the history of Singapore, remained in this building. Restoration of the Rotunda stained glass dome occurred in 2004. Each of the 50 Victorian glass panels is nine feet long and are curved in shape to best fit the profile of the dome. Eleventh century carving from India, of Sarosvatl, Hindu goddess of learning and knowledge. In 1998, fishermen diving in the Java Sea discovered an unnamed ship wreck containing over 60,000 artifacts, including thousands of ceramic bowls and jars (dated to around 830)... ....because of the way they were packed, and the soft sand in which they lay, most of these ceramic pieces were perfectly preserved. Because of the large numbers of Chinese immigrants pouring into Singapore, much of the island's history has been influenced by Chinese culture. Representing the East India Company, Sir Stamford Raffles founded modern day Singapore, in 1849, as a trading post.... ...however, while he went off to persue other adventures, Raffles left Major William Farguhar to carry out his plans. This bell, which was cast by the Paul Revere Iron Works of Boston in 1843, hung in St. Andrews Cathedral here (and those characters standing next to the bell are NOT decendants of Paul Revere). Dated somewhere between the 10th and 14th centuries, this "Singapore Stone" fragment was part of a larger stone found by the British when they arrived here in 1819.
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Carl and Lorraine Aveni are two retirees planning on traveling through Europe for at least one year.
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