The restored Middleburg Bastion, a fort built by the Dutch in the 17th century beside the Melaka River bank in Bandar Hilir, will be officially opened on April 3.

Heritage commissioner with the National Heritage Department, Prof Datin Paduka Zuraina Majid, said Information Communication and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim would officate at the opening following the completion of the RM4.8 million restoration project at the bastion.

"The restoration work, undertaken by NTQT Sdn Bhd, began in 2008 with an allocation under the National Heritage Department. It will now become another tourist attraction for Melaka," she said after officiating at the bastion's opening ceremony organising committee meeting, here, on Tuesday.

Middleburg Bastion was built in 1660s by the Dutch as a strategic military security post but was destroyed by the British in 1809 on the order of Capt William Farquhar.

"The public is invited to the restored bastion's opening which will also feature multicultural performances and recitation of a poem by National Laureate Prof Dr Mohammad Salleh," Zuraina said.

This city was the centre of the Melaka Empire whose influence spread over large parts of the Malay Peninsula and neighbouring areas of Indonesia in the 15th Century before it was captured by Portuguese invaders in 1511. It then was taken over by the Dutch and subsequently handed over to the British.