Kota Tua, Jakarta

Kota Tua is what is left of Batavia, the walled Dutch port town that grew into Jakarta. Its centre is Fatahillah Square, a cobbled space ringed by heavy eighteenth-century buildings: the old city hall, now the history museum, and former courts and offices with tall shutters and thick stucco walls. West of it the Kali Besar canal is lined with warehouses in varying states of repair, among them Toko Merah, a red brick house from the trading era. Jakarta Kota station, a concrete hall from the 1920s with a curved roof, marks the southern edge. Ten minutes north, the old harbour of Sunda Kelapa still works, with wooden pinisi schooners moored bow-in along the quay.

History

In 1526 Fatahillah, sent by the Sultanate of Demak, took the Pajajaran port of Sunda Kelapa and renamed it Jayakarta, a town of only 15 hectares. In 1619 the Dutch East India Company under Jan Pieterszoon Coen razed Jayakarta and a year later built a new town named Batavia, and around 1630 the walled city expanded to the west bank of the Ciliwung, laid out with a castle, city wall, square, churches and canals (Wikipedia, Kota Tua Jakarta).

The main sights

• Fatahillah Square - the cobbled plaza and the old city hall facing it.
• Kali Besar - the canal with its warehouses and the red brick Toko Merah.
• Jakarta Kota station - the curved-roof railway hall from the 1920s.
• Sunda Kelapa - wooden pinisi schooners loading at the old harbour.

When to go

Dry season, May to September, and early: the square is exposed and by noon the heat and glare are heavy. Weekends turn it into a fairground of buskers, costumed characters and rented bicycles, entertaining but crowded, while weekdays are calmer. Sunda Kelapa is best in the morning while cargo is being moved.

What to expect

Restoration is uneven: for every repaired facade there is a shuttered ruin with trees growing out of it, and the canal water is dirty and smells. The museums are cheap but dated. Touts and parking fixers work both the square and the harbour, where a small charge and a boatman's offer are standard. The trip from south Jakarta can take an hour in traffic.

Nearby

Glodok, Jakarta's Chinatown, is a short walk south; the National Museum is in the centre of the city.

Key facts