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Surosowan Palace
Once upon a time the
Palace covered an area of some 30,000 square metres with 2 metre high
walls 5 metres thick and while the perimeter walls are still relatively
intact inside looks like some cowboy builders have just tipped their
bricks haphazardly round the site. OK, it's not that bad. Groundworks
are visible and a keen eye could probably make an educated guestimate as
to how the Palace looked in it's former glory.
The main entrance would
have been on the northern side and in the European style there was a
bastion on each corner protecting the flanks. Moats once encircled the
whole but today just 2 remain, the southern one especially being a
turgid, stagnant pond almost, creamy in colour and foul in stench.
Constructed in the mid 16th Century.
Masjid
Agung
The Sultan of Banten in
the mid 1500's was busy as he transferred the wealth the city created as
a city-port into bricks and mortar which we see a legacy of today. As
well as the Palace he had this mosque constructed and he himself is
buried in the grounds to the north. The base is rectangular while the 5
tiered roof hints at earlier Hindu influences.
The eye-catching minaret
looks like a lighthouse and is visible from much of the local grounds.
It's construction date is unclear while some rumour has it being built
by a Chinese Muslim again in the middle of the same century.
Above is Masjid Agung, a popular
attraction for pilgrims at the weekend. The minaret in the image below
was said to have been built by a Chinese Muslim. Both images
©
www.the-spiceislands.com
Behind the mosque lie the royal tombs of
the ancient kings of Banten ©
www.the-spiceislands.com
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How to get here:
I came by car. Take the Jakarta Merak Toll Road
and exit at Serang. Head north and follow the signs to Banten
Lama. For public transport take a mini bus from Serang. You can
reach Serang by bus or train from Jakarta Kota. Avoid Sundays!
There are also a few trains straight to Banten apparently and
the station is
close to the sites. |
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Click
here
for more Images of Banten Lama |
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Additional Reading:
The Honourable
Company - John Keay
Nathaniel's Nutmeg - Giles Milton
A Guide To Archaeological
And Historical Monuments in Banten
- possibly available at the museum in English and Indonesia
Life and Death in Banten
More
Pictures |
Fort Speelwijk
Ah,
the European guests. Uninvited intruders arrived here attracted by the
profits to be garnered from the spice markets of the late middle ages.
Dirty, smelly, uncouth with big noses and pretty weird clothes they
would travel afar and fight with their neighbour over a twig of mace. They
built the fort to protect their people and most importantly, their
goods, from a hostile environment where the Bantenese, English and
Chinese no doubt were offended by their vice like grip on trade
throughout the islands.
In 1659 a treaty
between Banten and the Dutch, by then a trading company known for short
as VOC, gave a tract of land free to the Cloggies and it was here they
built their stone defences. At that time the sea was much closer than
today, now fishing boats are just visible bobbing lazily on the tide
from the battlements. In 1682 after a brief conflict the Dutch kicked
the English traders out of 'their' turf and licking their wounds, they
settled on the godforsaken
Bengkulu on the west coast of Sumatra where they proceeded to
drink vast quantities of alcohol and really piss off their head office
in London.
Just
outside the fort to the east are some tombs of those who never made it
home. Like can be seen in Jakarta, Bogor, Penang and Melaka the silent
tombs tell the story of western endeavours in the east and it is to the
credit of the host countries that these burial places have often been
spared the bulldozer.
Access to the dark and dingy dungeons
where the Dutch kept those who crossed them
©
www.the-spiceislands.com
Some of the Dutch who never made it home.
These graves lie outside the walls of the fort.
©
www.the-spiceislands.com
Today Banten Lama
is a sleepy village
surrounded by a great history, touched by the Bantenese Sultans, the
Dutch Colonials, the English drinkers and the Chinese sitting silently
in the background, forever slicing off their cut. The weekends can get
busy as local angkots bring pilgrims to marvel at the mosque and to
climb the minaret while shopping for Islamic souvenirs and football
towels in the crowded alleys around the alun-alun. Few people
visit the museum or it's cannon, Ki Amuk, or venture round the
Fort or the Palace.
The road back to Serang
has little kratons, mosques or tombs that pay silent tribute to
the power that once ruled here. It is a vital part of Indonesian
heritage and history.
Much of the destruction
dates from the early 19th Century as Bantenese objected to heavy handed
interference and in revenge the area was pretty much levelled. And that
may well have been the last time there were any numbers of Europeans in
the area. Certainly on my visits I have seen no other foreigner but of
course that is not to say they don't come. While facilities maybe
lacking the welcome isn't. We called into the museum one prayer time and
the man in charge, obviously keen to get to the mosque, was only to
pleased to tell us a bit more about the area, littering his conversation
with fragments of English.
Home for many in 21st Century Banten on
the doorstep of history
©
www.the-spiceislands.com
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