The Kratons of Cirebon

Cirebon sits where Javanese and Sundanese Java meet the sea, and its sultanate divided into three courts, each with its own palace. Kasepuhan is the oldest and most rewarding: red brick gates in a pre-Islamic idiom, walls studded with blue and white Chinese porcelain plates, and a pavilion holding the Singa Barong carriage, a carved beast that borrows the trunk of an elephant, the body of a horse and the head of a dragon. Kanoman and Kacirebonan are smaller and quieter, still lived in by their families. A short drive away, Taman Sari Gua Sunyaragi is a folly of caves, tunnels and pinnacles built from coral rock.

What you actually see

• Kasepuhan's gates - red brick portals and walls set with Chinese porcelain plates.
• The Singa Barong carriage - the royal coach combining elephant, horse and dragon.
• Kanoman and Kacirebonan - the two smaller courts, still family homes.
• Gua Sunyaragi - the coral-rock water garden of caves, tunnels and pinnacles.

When to go

May to September avoids the heaviest rain on the north coast, though Cirebon is hot and humid all year. Mornings are the sensible time for the palaces, which shut in the early afternoon. Sunyaragi is better late in the day, once the rock has stopped radiating heat. Trains from Jakarta make a day trip possible, but a tight one.

Honest expectations

Guides at Kasepuhan are informal and the fee is negotiated at the gate, which some visitors find awkward. The palaces are worn, patchily maintained and sparsely explained, and the two smaller courts amount to a room or two each. Sunyaragi has been rebuilt more than once and its cement repairs are obvious. Cirebon is a working port city with little tourist infrastructure.

Nearby

The batik village of Trusmi is fifteen minutes west; the north coast road runs on toward Semarang.