We've always loved Fort Canning Park for its wonderful mix of nature and history. Well, the beloved hilltop park has gotten that much better thanks to two enhancements – the addition of a new Fort Canning Heritage Gallery and an upgrade to the existing Spice Garden, which is now home to a new Spice Gallery.
Fort Canning Park has stood witness to many milestones in Singapore's history – it saw the passage of British colonisation and played a critical role during World War II. Now you can trace these rich histories at the new Fort Canning Heritage Gallery, which features in-depth and informative panels organised to cover five periods in Fort Canning Park's history. It also touches on more modern events, such as the Singapore Bicentennial centrepiece event held here in 2019. The coolest part? You can view historical artefacts recovered from sites in the garden itself – including a Chinese porcelain compass and fragments of a porcelain pillow that date all the way back to the 14th century.
Nature lovers will want to head over to the enhanced Spice Garden to enjoy its new features too. According to NParks, the garden has been expanded to encompass Canning Rise. Home to more than 180 varieties of plants, this is where you can learn all about the spice trade in Singapore – tracing the early history of local spice plantations through to our growth as a spice trading and producing hub. This is all told through fun flip panels and life-sized artworks along the trail.
And in the new Spice Gallery, you can check out replicas of a local kopitiam and a spice provision shop. It's designed to be a fun and interactive space where you can pull out canisters filled with actual dried spices and listen to oral history interviews with real spice traders.
The Fort Canning Heritage Gallery is open daily from 10am to 6pm (closed on the last Monday of the month for maintenance), while the Spice Gallery is open daily from 7am to 10pm. Admission to both is free.
To find out more about what to see and do in the park, read our ultimate guide to Fort Canning Park.
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