Heritage Bazaar
This building, which has a traditional Terengganu design, gathers a lot of traditional Terengganu handicrafts and arts such as batik, silk, copper and songket. By having this 3-storey building, visitors who come here can enjoy a beautiful view of the mouth of the Terengganu river due to its location directly facing the river. In the evening, visitors can see a beautiful panorama on the 3rd floor of this building.
The first official road to appear in Sarawak’s landscape, Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman or better known as Main Bazaar is where Kuching’s modern history began.
It functioned as the city’s center before expanding to its current boundaries. As the name implies, it was the city’s first trading center due to its proximity to the waterfront’s piers and wharfs.
When James Brooke came to Sarawak in 1839, the row of shops along the street and sitting on the edge of the river’s mudflats, was made of only wood and nipah.
As the British Raj administration flourished and Kuching prospered, Main Bazaar experienced a tremendous increase in activities, with various vendors opening up shop along the most popular street in town.
Under the governance of the second Rajah Charles Brooke, some of the wooden buildings along the road were replaced by Kuching’s first brick shophouses in 1872, further solidifying the importance of the street in the state’s history.
The 1884 fire devastated the remaining wooden buildings, giving way to an entire row of shops made of brick.
Main Bazaar is where Kuching’s “kaki lima” or the pavement originated, deriving its name from the pedestrian walkways that measured precisely five feet when they were originally built.
As time passed, Main Bazaar slowly lost its stature as the business hub of Kuching. Today, it is the go-to place for antiques and souvenirs, as well as boutique hotels like The Ranee.
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