Old Banten

Banten Lama was the capital of the Banten sultanate, which controlled the pepper trade through the Sunda Strait from the sixteenth century and was for a period one of the largest and richest ports in Southeast Asia, receiving Chinese, Indian, Arab, Portuguese, English and Dutch traders. The Dutch destroyed the palace in 1808 and the site declined into fields. What remains is substantial but ruinous: the Great Mosque of Banten with a stepped roof and a minaret built by a European convert in a form that belongs to no local tradition, the Surosowan palace as a walled foundation plan, the Kaibon palace ruins, a Dutch fort, a Chinese temple still in use, and a museum with finds. The Great Mosque is a major pilgrimage destination, which keeps the site busy.

History

Banten was a 16th-century port city famous for its pepper, and it flourished as the Islamic Sultanate of Banten reached its height in the 17th century. Long, bitter conflict with the Dutch East India Company over the spice trade ended in the dissolution of the sultanate and the city's decline. Today people come to pray at the graves of Sultan Maulana Hasanuddin and his descendants and to visit the Great Mosque, the ruins of two palaces, the watchtower and the old water works; the site has been put forward for World Heritage listing since 1995 (Wikipedia, Old Banten).

What to look for

• The Great Mosque and its minaret - the stepped roof and the European-designed tower.
• Surosowan palace - the walled foundation plan of the destroyed royal compound.
• Kaibon ruins and a Dutch fort - the later phases of the sultanate and its fall.
• A working Chinese temple - Vihara Avalokitesvara, from the port's trading past.

When to go

May to September. Half a day.

Things to know

Pilgrimage traffic to the mosque is heavy and the surroundings are commercialised with stalls and vendors. Most of the site is foundations, not standing buildings. It is hot and shadeless.

Nearby

Serang is south; Jakarta is about two hours east.