Fort Cornwallis sits at the north-eastern tip of Georgetown, on the spot where Captain Francis Light of the East India Company landed on 17 August 1786 to claim Penang for the British. Light's troops first built a wooden stockade; the present star-shaped fort, named for Charles Cornwallis (then Governor-General of India), was completed in stone in 1810 using convict labour. It is the largest standing fort in Malaysia, though it never saw real combat.
The walls and central parade ground are well preserved. Inside the perimeter you can see the original chapel, the powder magazine, the gunpowder store, a series of old cannons (including the Dutch-cast Sri Rambai, said to bestow fertility when touched), and a small visitor centre with displays on Light and the colonial founding. The fort sits beside the Padang — a large green park used for cricket and ceremony — and is a short walk from the Cenotaph, the Town Hall and the Esplanade waterfront. Entry is a modest fee.