After several futile attacks, the Netherlands took possession of the fortress of Melaka and conquered the Portuguese on 14th January 1641. The Dutch were exemplary builders. Between 1641 and 1660, they built the Stadthuys as the official residence of the Dutch governors and officers. They also built St. John's Fort, St. Peter's Church and Christ Church in the 18th century.

During the Napoleonic Wars, the Dutch governor surrendered Melaka to the British East India Company to prevent it from falling into French hands. At the end of the war in 1818, under the Treaty of Vienna, Britain returned Melaka to the Netherlands. Six years later in 1824, Britain and Netherlands signed the Treaty of London. After ruling for nearly 200 years, the Dutch surrendered Melaka to the British in exchange for Bencoolen in Sumatra.