Welcome to Jakarta, the capital and largest city of Indonesia, spread along the northwestern coast of Java and facing the Java Sea. Long ago this was Sunda Kelapa, the port of the Sunda Kingdom. In 1619 the Dutch East India Company seized the town, then called Jayakarta, and rebuilt it as Batavia, its main administrative centre in Asia. The name Jakarta came during the Japanese occupation in the Second World War, and Indonesian independence was proclaimed here in 1945. Today the city has no ethnic majority: Javanese, Betawi, Sundanese and Chinese Indonesians all call it home. Let us begin our tour.
National Monument
In the centre of Merdeka Square rises the National Monument, known to everyone simply as Monas. This 132 metre obelisk was built to commemorate the struggle for Indonesian independence. Construction began in 1961 under the direction of President Sukarno, and the monument opened to the public in 1975. Look right up to the very top: it is crowned with a flame covered in gold leaf, a symbol of the burning spirit of struggle of the Indonesian people.
Istiqlal Mosque
Before you stands Istiqlal Mosque, the largest mosque in Southeast Asia. Its name is an Arabic word meaning independence, and it was built as the national mosque to commemorate Indonesian independence, opening to the public on 22 February 1978. The ground beneath it once held Wilhelmina Park and a 19th-century fortification called the Citadel. Here is a lovely detail: the mosque stands right next to Jakarta Cathedral, so two great houses of worship share the same neighbourhood beside Merdeka Square.
Kota Tua Jakarta
Photo: Chainwit. · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsWelcome to Kota Tua, the Old Town, the original downtown of Jakarta. The Dutch called it Oud Batavia, or Old Batavia. Most of the Dutch-style buildings around you date from the 17th century, when this port city served as the Asian headquarters of the Dutch East India Company during the heyday of the spice trade. The district covers 1.3 square kilometres, and it also takes in Glodok, the largely Chinese downtown quarter.
Jakarta Cathedral
Photo: Rantemario · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsNow we reach Jakarta Cathedral, a Latin Catholic cathedral and the seat of the Archbishop of Jakarta. Its official name is the Church of Our Lady of the Assumption, taken from the original Dutch. The present building was consecrated in 1901 in the neo-Gothic style, a common choice for churches of that time. Notice its neighbours: Merdeka Square and Merdeka Palace are close by, and the great Istiqlal Mosque stands right next door.
Taman Mini Indonesia Indah
Photo: Chainwit. · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsHere in East Jakarta is Taman Mini Indonesia Indah, whose name means Beautiful Indonesia Mini Park. Spread over about 147 hectares, it is a synopsis of the whole nation, with separate pavilions showing the traditional houses, clothing, dances and traditions of each province. In the middle of a lake you will find a miniature of the archipelago with a dancing fountain. There are cable cars and museums too, and the Keong Emas IMAX cinema, which was the only IMAX cinema in Indonesia until the 2010s.
National Museum of Indonesia
Photo: Chainwit. · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsOn the west side of Merdeka Square stands the National Museum of Indonesia. Locals call it the Elephant Museum, after the elephant statue in its forecourt. Its collections cover almost all of Indonesia's territory and history, with about 141,000 objects, from prehistoric artefacts to ceramics, coins and ethnography. Take a moment with its stone statues from the classical Hindu-Buddhist period of ancient Java and Sumatra, one of its most comprehensive collections. For two centuries the museum has worked to preserve the nation's heritage.
Lomakuume
