Behind its serene Gothic chapel and graceful colonnaded walks, CHIJMES is a beautifully restored complex of nineteenth-century convent buildings that has been reborn as one of the most atmospheric dining and entertainment destinations in central Singapore. The name preserves the memory of the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus, the Catholic order whose nuns ran a school and orphanage on this site for well over a century, and the abbreviation is pronounced like the chimes of a bell, a fitting echo of the chapel that stands at its heart. Founded in the eighteen-fifties, the convent grew into a cluster of elegant buildings around quiet courtyards, its centrepiece an exquisite chapel with soaring arches, slender columns and stained-glass windows, completed by a French priest-architect and long regarded as one of the loveliest examples of Gothic-revival architecture in the region. A poignant feature of its history is the gate where desperate parents once left babies they could not care for, to be taken in and raised by the sisters. When the convent and school moved away in the nineteen-eighties, the site was sensitively conserved and transformed, its halls and cloisters given new life as a venue for restaurants, bars, shops and events, while the deconsecrated chapel, stripped of its religious function, became a hall prized for weddings, concerts and functions for its beauty and acoustics. Today visitors come to wander the tranquil courtyards and lawns, to admire the architecture and the chapel, and to dine and drink in surroundings that blend heritage with conviviality, the whole complex offering a striking oasis of old-world charm amid the modern bustle of the civic district. Centrally located and easily reached, CHIJMES combines history, architecture and a lively social scene in one elegant setting. For visitors, it offers both a glimpse of the colonial and religious past of Singapore and a delightful place to relax, eat and unwind in one of the city most graceful corners.

Type: Tourist Attraction

Address: 30 Victoria Street, Singapore, Singapore