The European administrators who oversaw the British Empire's operations in Kuala Lumpur sought to recreate the genteel lifestyle they had back in Britain - and this meant going to church on Sunday, sitting in an honest-to-God church, despite their location in the midst of "heathens".

So it was only proper that the Englishmen set up a church as close to the official center of power as possible - and in the 1890s, this meant being close to the Padang (now known as Dataran Merdeka), just a short walk to the Sultan Abdul Samad Building and the Royal Selangor Club.

• Malaysia 101: New to the territory? Read our Guide to Kuala Lumpur, peruse our Malaysia Travel Guide, or check out our list of Top Ten Reasons to Visit Malaysia. For an overview of other top places to visit nearby, look at this list of nine must-see spots around Dataran Merdeka.

The church they built - known today as the Cathedral of St. Mary the Virgin, or Saint Mary's Cathedral - now serves as the seat of the Bishop overseeing the Anglican Diocese of West Malaysia. Despite its small size and its location in an officially Muslim country, Saint Mary's Cathedral retains a vibrant congregation that fills up each of its eleven Sunday sermons (preached in English, Iban and Bahasa Malaysia).

History buffs exploring Dataran Merdeka will appreciate the Cathedral for its English Gothic architecture, its vintage pipe organ, and its role as a spiritual refuge for the British presence in Malaya.

• Malaysia's Past: for additional context on Malaysia's history and how it impinges on the present, read About.com Asian History's take on Malaysia - Facts and History. 

Architecture of Saint Mary's Cathedral

The present Cathedral building was designed by the same architect that created the Sultan Abdul Samad Building, among others - Arthur Charles Norman, who stepped in to design an Early English Gothic-style structure when a design competition failed to turn up any other adequate proposals.

Norman's proposal called for a nave, or church chamber, that could accommodate about 180 churchgoers, being 87 feet long by 28 feet wide. The roof was constructed of locally-logged timber, rising about 40 feet above the floor at its very apex.

The original church was very poorly ventilated; church-going ladies dressed to the nines often fainted from the oven-like heat. For a time, the church hired "punkawallas" to operate hand-cranked ceiling fans called punkah (Wikipedia) to keep air circulating. (Some of the mountings for the punkah can still be seen on the ceiling.)

The chancel, or altar area, on the eastern end would terminate in an octagon, with the ability to accommodate a choir of 20. The chancel's angled walls are pierced with stained-glass windows; the floors are paved with tessellated tiles.  

The chancel's stained-glass windows are quite new; the original ones were taken down during World War II (when the threat of Japanese bombs hung heavy over the city), but were hidden away so well that no one has found them since. After years of the windows being covered with planks, the community paid up to have new windows made.  

The church loft contains a working pipe organ that dates back to 1898. The organ was made for the personal use of the Resident of Pahang, who died of a heart attack in 1903. It was finally installed in Saint Mary's in 1904, then refurbished in the 1920s and 1950s after floods and the ravages of time threatened its continued use.

Renovations in 1958 and 1968 extended the church and added facilities for the church staff.

Getting to Saint Mary's Cathedral

Saint Mary's Cathedral is located on the northern end of Dataran Merdeka (Address: Jalan Raja, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; location on Google Maps). To get here by LRT, disembark at the Masjid Jamek station and walk 20 minutes northwest up Jalan Tun Perak until it intersects with Jalan Raja; walk south then west till you reach the church.

The Kuala Lumpur city government sponsors visits to Saint Mary's Cathedral as part of its free Dataran Merdeka Heritage Walk. Tours take place  every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday, beginning at 9am at the Kuala Lumpur City Gallery.

To join the tours, visit the official KL Tourism site visitkl.gov.my or email pelacongan@dbkl.gov.my.

Visit the Cathedral's official website: www.stmaryscathedral.org.my.

• Capital carriages: More details on riding the rails in KL (and stations close to major destinations) in our article here: Guide to Kuala Lumpur's Train System.  This overview of transportation in Kuala Lumpur provides information about the Malaysian capital's public transport system.