Sion Church: Jakarta's oldest building

By Ida Indawati Khouw

This is the 2nd article on old churches in Jakarta published in commemoration of Easter. It is also the 36th in a series of articles on old and protected buildings in the capital published every Saturday in The Jakarta Post.

JAKARTA (JP): In the period after Jan Pieterszoon Coen built the wall around the city of Batavia in 1619, the Dutch colonial authorities introduced two types of Protestant churches for the Mardijker, the Dutch prisoners who had recently been "freed" from India and Malaya.

The first type of church, the Portuguese Buitenkerk (meaning a Portuguese church built outside the walled city) was designed to serve the congregation of the so-called "black Portuguese", the prisoners who had become slaves in Batavia .

The second, the Portuguese Binnenkerk, was located exclusively inside the walled city compound and specially constructed for the "white Portuguese" congregation.

Unlike their "black" brothers and sisters, the status of the "white" ex-Dutch prisoners was unclear. Some historians say the "white Portuguese" were wealthier than the "black" ones.

Historian Adolf Heuken has claimed the "white Portuguese" were placed in an upmarket residential area inside the walled city (today known as the Roa Malaka in Kota), while the "black Portuguese" lived outside the walled city.

Unfortunately, the real motive behind the seemingly racist decision to divide the congregation based on their skin color and societal status remains unclear.

There are almost no books or documents that can help reveal, for example, the actual status, profession and skin color of the congregation of the Portuguese Binnenkerk.

One should underline here that the word Portuguese had nothing to do with the congregations' nationality or blood. Some historians have argued the word referred to the former colonial powers of several lands in the East which were later conquered by the Dutch, who then shipped the prisoners to various places, including Batavia.

Historians have also written that the prisoners were mostly Catholics, who agreed to become Protestants after the Dutch, who only recognized the Dutch Reformed Church, promised to free them.

According to available sources, the Dutch authority constructed one Binnenkerk and two Buitenkerk.

The only church built inside the walled city for the "white Portuguese" was razed by a big fire in 1808. The Portuguese Binnenkerk was built in 1673.

It is a blessing that the two churches outside the walled city, now named Sion Church and Tugu Church, remain in their original places in West and North Jakarta respectively without any significant changes in either their design or color.

Since Tugu Church, which was constructed between 1744 and 1747, has been the subject of a previous Save Old Batavia article (The Jakarta Post, Nov. 22, 1999), today's article will focus on the 305-year-old Sion Church.

Standing solidly among a crowd of modern buildings and facing the hectic traffic of Jl. Pangeran Jayakarta, the building is a typical "hall church". The shape is similar to a cube, and it has large windows and doors.

Its vast interior is garnished with marvelous ornaments. A golden-colored baroque pulpit with fine carvings is set under the church's huge wooden canopy. The pulpit is the same age as the church itself.

The church's furniture also dates back to the 17th century. Another important item is the 18th-century richly engraved organ standing on the balcony. The carvings along its side are painted reddish brown and gold.

In his book Historical Sites of Jakarta Heuken said the street where the church was located was one of the oldest roads in ancient Jakarta.

In the old days people called it Jacatraweg, as it led to a little fort, built in 1695, named Fort Jacatra.

According to Heuken, the church was initially constructed to replace a simple shed built in 1676, which functioned as a temporary church, complete with a bell to call congregations for catechism classes.

The bell, casted in 1675 in Batavia, can still be found in the wooden tower in the church's front yard.

The church compound was also used to bury thousands of people. In 1790 alone, a total of 2,381 bodies, most of whom were soldiers and clerks of the VOC (the Dutch East India Company), were buried there, Heuken notes.

"Life was really unhealthy in 18th century in Batavia and people died like flies," the historian wrote.

Heuken regarded the Sion Church as the oldest building in Jakarta and that its function has remained the same since it was built in 1695.

The book Teater Lenong Betawi (Betawi Lenong Theater) notes the number of Mardijker" grew rapidly after their introduction into Batavia.

In 1673, their population was the third highest (5,362) out of the seven listed ethnic groups, including slaves, in Batavia.

Their number in the entire population affected the everyday language in Batavia. The most popular language used a mixture of Portuguese and Malay words.

"Therefore some Protestant ministers had to learn Portuguese in order to serve this growing community," Heuken wrote.

Following the decline of the VOC in the 18th century, the liberated people lost their special status and began to mix with indigenous people.

A few "Black Portuguese" descendants can still be found in several kampongs in the city, such as Tugu in North Jakarta and in the Depok area.