Fort Rotterdam

Fort Rotterdam takes up a block of the Makassar waterfront, and its low thick walls enclose a surprisingly calm interior of lawns, frangipani trees and whitewashed Dutch buildings with steep tiled roofs. The site began as a fort of the Gowa sultanate, probably built in 1634, and was rebuilt in European style after 1667, its outline often described as a sea turtle heading for the water. You can walk the ramparts and look down into the courtyards and out across the strait. Inside, the La Galigo Museum takes its name from a Bugis epic and holds boat models, textiles, farming tools and material from across Sulawesi, arranged in an old-fashioned way that still repays an hour.

History

The first fort here, Ujung Pandang, was probably built by the Makassar rulers in 1634. It was ceded to the Dutch under the Treaty of Bongaya in 1667, rebuilt on the initiative of Admiral Cornelis Speelman and named after his birthplace, and given its five bastions and turtle shape in 1673-1679; the Javanese prince Diponegoro was held here from 1830 until his death in 1855, and the fort was extensively restored in the 1970s (Wikipedia, Fort Rotterdam).

Highlights

• The ramparts - a walk along the walls with views over the courtyards and the strait.
• The Dutch buildings - whitewashed halls with steep tiled roofs around the lawns.
• The La Galigo Museum - Bugis and Makassar boats, textiles and everyday objects.
• The bastion corners - the angled points that give the fort its turtle outline.

When to go

Makassar's drier months run roughly May to October, while the wet season brings heavy afternoon downpours. Mornings are the coolest time inside the walls, which hold heat well into the evening. The fort is a standard school-trip destination on weekday mornings. The museum keeps shorter hours than the grounds, so check before arriving late.

Practical notes

The museum is dusty, dimly lit and labelled mostly in Indonesian, and parts of it are often shut without explanation. Students practising their English will approach you, charming the first time and tiring the fourth. Makassar is hot, humid and traffic-heavy, and the fort is the city's one substantial historic sight rather than one of many.

Nearby

The Losari seafront and the Paotere fishing harbour, where pinisi boats moor, are close; Tana Toraja is a long drive north.

Key facts