page_title: Fort Canning Hill
section_title: Fort Canning Park
hierarchical_section_title: Fort Canning Hill / Fort Canning Park
caption_attribution_description: Entrance to the Fort Canning Park, Singapore.
context_page_description: Fort Canning Hill, formerly Government Hill, Singapore Hill and Bukit Larangan, is a small hill about 48 metres high in the southeast portion of the island city-state of Singapore, within the Central Area that forms Singapore's central business district. Although small in physical size, it has a long history intertwined with that of the city-state due to its location as the highest elevation within walking distance to the city's civic district within the Downtown Core. It is also a popular venue for music shows and concerts.
  The Malays called the hill Bukit Larangan or Forbidden Hill since olden times. This is due to the belief that it is the place where the kings of ancient Singapore were laid to rest, and it was believed to be haunted. It is also believed that a palace once stood on the hill. A settlement on the hill in the 14th century was named Ban Zu by the Yuan dynasty traveller Wang Dayuan. Later Sir Stamford Raffles built his residence there, which was also used by other Residents and Governors. It became known as Government Hill until it was renamed Fort Canning in 1861 when a fort was built on the site.
context_section_description: The area became known as Central Park in 1972 when the land previously used by the British armed forces was combined with King George V Jubilee Park.  The park was then renamed Fort Canning Park on 1 November 1981 by Lee Kuan Yew, and converted into a historical park.
  The park overlooks Orchard Road and is set in the heart of the Civic and Cultural District of Singapore, and it now offers a variety of recreational activities as well as historical, educational, entertainment and cultural experiences, and is also used as a place for social events. The park also serves as an important green lung for Singapore's downtown city area. The unique blend of historical relics, lush greenery and expansive lawns has made Fort Canning a hub of cultural and artistic activity. It has been a venue of choice for staging myriad outdoor events and activities like theatre carnivals, art festivals, starlight cinemas and Ballet Under the Stars performances. WOMAD, Singapore's largest music festival, was a regular feature of the park's calendar of events from 1998 to 2007.  The Fort Canning Tunnel passes directly under the hill.
  Fort Canning Park has been designated as the venue of the bicentennial showcase in 2019, an event which commemorates 200 years since the founding of Singapore. To restore the heritage of the area, three historical gardens will be recreated. They are the Royal Garden, the First Botanical Garden and Jubilee Park. Other enhancements to the park include a new heritage museum at the Fort Canning Centre, a reproduction of an ancient spring and improvements in accessibility.
caption: Fort Canning Park
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