Chris and I went to scope out some museums and historical landmarks of the oldest part of Jakarta, which was first settled by the Dutch in 1519, and called Old Batavia. We went to check it out so he'd be ready to take his grade 8 class there on a field trip (which happened yesterday). Old Batavia became the headquarters of the Dutch East India Company which had a monopoly on the spice trade for a. . . long time. We went to four different places.
{Old watch tower, Museum Bahari, Sunda Kelapa Harbor, and Fatahilla Museum}
Here's a panorama shot from the watch tower that was at one point the tallest building, used to signal ships in the nearby harbor of Sunda Kelapa.
on his way up to the top!
shipyard {VOC building}
nastiness. . .
please don't smook in this building
Next stop: Museum Bahari
You can totally see the Dutch influence!
I realized I have a thing for locks and hinges. . . you'll see more.
the place was full of surprises
Going up. . .
. . .to this massive room! This was the third floor of the museum which was to be used to store the spices. Don't worry, we didn't fall 3 stories down through the holes in the floor.
Third stop: Sunda Kelapa Harbor {sorry, only one picture}
Several major battles happened in this harbor, right where we were standing!
Last Stop: Fatahilla Musuem {aka Jakarta History Museum}
Fatahilla was a Muslim leader from a Sultanate in Central Java, who attacked and defeated the Hindu kingdom of Sunda and renamed the port city Jayakarta, which means "complete victory".
We were standing in the second floor balcony {you can see it in the picture above} where Dutch officials would sit to watch executions in the courtyard.
I love me some old keys!
And cute locks!
Bajajs (bahj-eyes) then and now. . .
those are the darn things that make our lungs black as we walk to school every morning. not cool. {salem you can't come soon enough}
The building's foundation contained underground prison cells where up to 300 prisoners were kept at a time. It has been said that the building itself quite literally "stood on the backs of prisoners and slaves", serving as a metaphor for the city itself which was also built on the backs of prisoners and slaves. In the 18th century approximately 60% of Batavia's population were slaves.
How'd you like one of those around your ankles?!
Tough luck guys.
Hope you enjoyed that quick history lesson ;)
You can thank Chris for the details. His poor brain is way too full of them.
Very interesting! I had forgotten about the East India Company. We had to learn about it in school in Canada. Nice pictures too. :0) (Including the locks and hinges--they were cool looking--big and crude.)
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