Places of interest in Banten
Places of interest in Banten
Should you want to take some time off to visit Banten, here are
some points of interest:
* Keraton Surosowan
Located 10 kilometers north of Serang city, the keraton was
constructed during the time of Sultan Maulana Hasanuddin (1552-
1570). Sultan Maulana Yusuf (1570-1580) enforced the
approximately 3.8 hectare keraton with a surrounding wall from
brick and coral. A moat also used to surround the keraton experts
say. The keraton was destroyed in the attack by the Dutch in
1808.
Remains of the keraton can still be found, including its
foundation, walls, gateway, and the remains of royal pools, the
result of years of archaeological excavations on the site.
Interesting to note is the terracotta water pipes leading to
the royal pool, Pancuran Mas (golden fountain), from the man-made
Tasik Ardi lake some two kilometers south west of the keraton.
For the water in the Pancuran Mas to be clear and fresh, water
from Tasik Ardi was filtered three times through pengindelan
abang (red filter), pengindelan putih (white filter), and
pengindelan mas (gold filter). Remains of the three pengindelan
could still be seen, evidence of an ancient water filtering
system.
* Speelwijk fort
Constructed in stages beginning in 1685 on top of the northern
part of the old Banten city wall, facing the sea, by the Dutch
and named after governor general at the time, Cornelis Janszoon
Speelman (1681-1684).
The fort was used to protect the interests of Dutch in trade,
politics and military.
Today, parts of the massive four-sided walls are still visible
together with the remains of its fortified towers, or bastions,
at each of the four corners.
An underground room with slits, enough for guns, overlooking
what used to be the sea also remained, as well as ruins of
underground cells.
A kerkhof or Dutch cemetery can be found close by for
Europeans who died in Banten.
* Banten Great Mosque
Construction of the Great Mosque, west of Keraton Surosowan,
began in 1566 during the reign of Sultan Maulana Hasanuddin
(1552-1570). It was traditionally expanded and renovated during
the reigns of the following sultans.
The mosque complex comprise of the actual mosque, the Tiyamah
building, mosque tower, and cemetery.
In its time, the mosque was the center of the spread of Muslim
influence in the region, and Muslim clerics used to convene at
the mosque's Tiyamah building to discuss religious issues.
Both the Tiyamah building and the mosque tower was the work of
Dutch architect Hendrick Lucas Cardeel who was invited to
strengthen Surosowan by Sultan Abu Nashr Abdul Qahhar (Sultan
Haji) (1680-1687).
The mosque tower's architecture is the only one of a kind in
Indonesia and has become the symbol of the province.
* Avalokitesvara Chinese Temple
The focal point for Chinese devotees everywhere for Chinese
New Year, the Avalokitesvara Chinese Temple is one of the few
remaining evidences of Chinese influence in the area.
The temple was built in the town's Pecinan (China town) area,
just west of Speelwijk fortress in the 17th century.
* State Building
The State Building, facing the Serang town square, was built
from the material taken from Keraton Surosowan, according to
Endjat based on some archaeological excavations in the area.
"We opened a test-pit on the grounds once and found some
terracota and teak wood that we believed once belonged to
Surosowan," he said.
At first the building was used as office of the head of the
Banten residency, the first of which was J. de Bruijn WD between
1817 and 1818. From 1974 it was used as the office of the
assistant governor for Banten region, and finally as governor's
office when the region became a province in 2000.
The State Building was built in the Indisch architectural
form, eastern architecture influenced by Dutch architecture,
believed to have been built at around 1814 by an unknown
architect.
* Serang Police Building
Also located around the Serang town square, the Serang Police
Building once housed the Dutch Hollandsche Inlandsche School
(HIS), and built in the early 19th century, the building remained
in good condition.
* Maulana Yusuf Military Resort Command Building
Built in early 19th century, the building was used as the
barracks of the Dutch military police.
Little is known of the building because it is under strict
control of the military.