Famous Landmarks in Johor Bahru
A Moorish state mosque and a royal palace sit steps from the Singapore causeway.
Johor Bahru's landmarks cluster within a short stretch of the city centre and span less than a century of building. The oldest, the Istana Besar, went up in 1866 as the ruling sultan's residence. The Sultan Abu Bakar State Mosque followed between 1892 and 1900, its Moorish arches and domes marking a deliberate break from vernacular Malay building toward an imported, ceremonial idiom. The Sultan Ibrahim Building came decades later, in 1936-1940, a British-style state secretariat raised on Bukit Timbalan as colonial-era administration expanded; for decades it stood as the tallest structure in the city and in Malaya itself. Together the three trace a shift from palace and mosque to bureaucratic tower.
Sultan Abu Bakar State Mosque
1892–1900
The mosque is built in the Moorish style along Jalan Skudai, a deliberately imported design rather than the vernacular mosque forms common in the region.
The Sultan Abu Bakar State Mosque is the state mosque of Johor, standing along Jalan Skudai in Johor Bahru. Construction ran from 1892 to 1900 under the direction of Sultan Abu Bakar, whose patronage gave the mosque its status as the sultanate's principal religious building rather than an ordinary neighbourhood mosque. It was raised in a Moorish architectural style, an imported design distinct from vernacular Malay mosque forms found elsewhere in the region. It remains in use today as the state mosque of Johor.
Photo: Graystravels (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Istana Besar
1866
Known locally as the Grand Palace, the Istana Besar has served since 1866 as the residence of the Sultan of Johor, making it one of the oldest surviving buildings in the city.
The Istana Besar, or Grand Palace, is the royal palace of the Sultan of Johor in Johor Bahru. Completed in 1866, it is among the city's oldest surviving structures and predates the modernisation that reshaped the settlement two decades later, when Sultan Abu Bakar's administration turned a fishing village into an administrative centre with new offices, schools and railway links. The palace remains associated with the ruling house of Johor and stands as a marker of the city's pre-colonial civic history.
Photo: Irwan Shah Bin Abdullah (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Sultan Ibrahim Building
1936–1940
The Sultan Ibrahim Building stands on Bukit Timbalan in a British colonial style; it was the tallest building in Johor Bahru, and briefly in Malaya as a whole, until the Merlin Tower was completed in the 1970s.
The Sultan Ibrahim Building is a former state secretariat building of Johor at Bukit Timbalan in Johor Bahru. Built between 1936 and 1939 in a British colonial style and completed in 1940, it was opened by Sultan Ibrahim of Johor as the state government sought to streamline its administration. It was the tallest building in Malaya before independence, and remained the tallest in Johor Bahru until the Merlin Tower was completed in the 1970s. The state secretariat has since relocated to Kota Iskandar, and there are plans to convert the building into a museum.
- It was the tallest building in Malaya during the pre-independence era.
- It remained the tallest building in Johor Bahru until the Merlin Tower was completed in the 1970s.
- There are plans to convert it into a museum.
Photo: Graystravels (CC BY-SA 4.0)
History
The Istana Besar was built in 1866 as the royal palace of the Sultan of Johor, predating the city's major growth. Modernisation followed under Sultan Abu Bakar's reign between 1886 and 1895, when Johor Bahru grew from a fishing village into an administrative centre with new offices, schools and railways. The Sultan Abu Bakar State Mosque, constructed between 1892 and 1900 under his direction, belongs to this same push, its Moorish design signalling the sultanate's new civic ambitions. Decades later, as the state administration expanded, the Sultan Ibrahim Building rose on Bukit Timbalan between 1936 and 1940 as the state secretariat, becoming the tallest building in Malaya before independence and holding that record locally until the Merlin Tower was completed in the 1970s. Johor Bahru was later occupied by Japanese forces during the Pacific War.