Hello everyone, how are you? Not long ago, I took part in a Walking Tour in Jakarta. The route I followed was Weltevreden. The name of this route is in Dutch, which means the place where Europeans lived on the edge of Batavia. The name of this place was given by Cornelis Chastelein. The meaning of Weltevreden is a beautiful place. When compared with current conditions, the Weltevreden area is the same as the Central Jakarta area. There are 7 historical places on the route this time, they are
This route was guided by Mas Farid, one of the very friendly tour guides and the founder of the Jakarta Good Guide. Mas Farid explained about Weltevreden which means satisfying and nature is still very beautiful. Then it moved to all the buildings, namely the Jakarta Arts Building which had previously been used for performances. From the past until now, the Jakarta Arts Building has been a performance venue. There is history that has been overlooked, after independence, this building was once a legislative building.
In this place, there is a missing statue, namely the statue of the god of art. The statue was removed during the Japanese colonial period. Japan didn't like the Dutch, so several Dutch statues were also lost. Another one, is Anna Pavlopa, a famous ballerina during the Dutch colonial period. Anna once toured the world. One of the performance venues is Batavia, namely the Jakarta Arts Building. Oh yes, there is one thing I missed, this place was also the first youth congress.
Next is the Kimia Farma building. This building is an Indonesian government building that focuses on medicine. In terms of buildings, the building is a Dutch heritage building with Indische Emire style architecture. In the past, this building was a meeting hall for an organization called Freemasonry. Freemasonry was a well-known organization during the Dutch colonial era, however, it was also said to be illegal. I already told you in the previous post.
These Freemasons are mostly involved in social and educational activities. In the past, it only accepted Dutch members. However, several Indonesians entered, one of them, Raden Saleh, who is a famous painter in Indonesia. Raden Saleh joined the organization during a trip to Europe. Then, another figure who entered was Raden Said, the first police chief. The Kimia Farma building was used by the First Youth Congress
Then there is the White House. Ideally, this building would become a presidential palace. However, that didn't happen. In the past, the idea of building a white house from Dendles began in 1809. Dendles was one of the ambitious and cruel Dutch governments. Finally, Dendles was moved and continued by Jansen and the Dutch East Indies fell to England. Construction of the White House stopped and construction continued in 1826, finishing 18 years later.
This building was revitalized in 2019, currently, this building is not in use. In front of the building, there is a missing statue, I don't remember the name of the figure who made the statue. However, the statue is a reminder of being one of Batavia's heroes and succeeding in bringing money to Batavia. This figure once massacred 7,000 people on the island of Banda and is considered the perpetrator of genocide.
I once wrote the history of this place. you can see in my old post. Formerly called the lion field, the lion became a symbol of the Dutch kingdom. The lion symbol was lost during the Dutch government. And when the Indonesian government changed it to a bull field because bulls were a typical Indonesian animal. And in 1980 it became a terminal for gigolo prostitution.
Previously, this place was the southernmost defensive fortress of South City. The fort was demolished during the construction of a mosque called the Istiqlal Mosque. There is also a park in this place called Wilhelmina Park. The debate about building a mosque between Soekarno and Muhammad Hatta, at that time. However, the differences ended and it took 17 years to build the mosque. The meaning of still is independence. The mosque's materials are steel and marble.
I once discussed the history of this place. But, what I want to tell you is that this church is the most beautiful church I have ever encountered. The church has a gothic design and all the materials were imported directly from Europe.
I once told you about this place. Previously, it was the first post office. However, this is a building for exhibitions or music concerts. That's my story about this place. This walking tour completes the history of the city of Jakarta. See you in the next story.
Nurdiani Latifah
My name is Nurdiani Latifah. I live in Jakarta – Indonesia, and after 25 years I live in Bandung. I am a media staff at an NGO in Indonesia. I have worked in this institution for almost 2 years on issues of women and peace. I have been a journalist in Bandung for 3 years.
If you like his content, don't forget to upvote and leave a comment to show some love. You can also reblog if you want to. Also, don't forget to follow him to be updated with his latest posts.