Lawang Sewu

Lawang Sewu was built between 1904 and 1907 as the headquarters of the Nederlandsch-Indische Spoorweg Maatschappij, the first railway company in the Indies, and it is one of the better pieces of colonial architecture in Java - a large L-shaped building designed for the tropics with tall louvred doors and windows in long ranks to move air, a stained-glass stair hall made in Amsterdam, and a monumental brick front. The Javanese name means thousand doors, from the number of openings. Its later history is heavy: the Japanese used the basement as a prison during the occupation, and in October 1945 the building was fought over between Japanese troops and Indonesian youth in the Battle of Semarang, with deaths on both sides. That history has generated a large ghost-story industry around the basement.

What you actually see

• Ranks of louvred doors - the tropical ventilation that gave the building its name.
• An Amsterdam stained-glass hall - the stair window imported for the headquarters.
• The wartime basement - used as a Japanese prison during the occupation.
• The 1945 battle site - where the October fighting in Semarang centred.

When to go

All year. Two hours.

Honest expectations

The ghost-tour framing around the basement sits uncomfortably with what happened there. Restoration has been extensive. It is hot inside despite the ventilation, and crowded at weekends.

Nearby

Tugu Muda monument is opposite; the Kota Lama old town is north.