Sultan Mosque and Kampong Glam
The golden dome of the Malay quarter, and the mural alleys of Haji Lane right behind it.
Duration
1 hr 30 min – 2 hrs 30 min
Best time
Late afternoon
Open
Every day
Entry price
Free
The Sultan Mosque was built in 1824 for Hussein Shah, then entirely rebuilt in 1932 in Indo-Saracenic style. The base of its golden dome is banded with a dark frieze made of glass bottle ends, donated by the poorest worshippers so that they too had a share in the work.
Around it, Kampong Glam is the old Malay quarter: Arab Street for fabric and carpets, Bussorah for cafés, and Haji Lane, an alley three metres wide covered in murals from pavement to roofline.
Getting there
MRT Downtown line, Bugis station, exit B, then ten minutes on foot along Arab Street.
What to bring
- Covering clothes
Rules on site
The mosque closes to visitors during the five prayers and at Friday midday; covering robes are lent at the door. Shoes off, shoulders and knees covered for everyone.
Other places in Singapore
- Gardens by the BayFifty-metre steel trees that light up after dark.
- Marina Bay promenadeThe bay, the three towers and the boat laid across them, seen from the water.
- Chinatown and the Buddha Tooth Relic TempleHerbalists, hawker centres and a five-storey Buddhist temple in the middle of it.
- Botanic GardensThe only tropical garden on the World Heritage list, eighty hectares in the middle of the city.