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The sleeping beauty slumbers still
Body talk: Visitors walk over a floor emblazoned with pages from books on how to etch the hands, bodies and other parts of wayang kulit, at the Wayang Museum in Kota, West Jakarta
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Body talk: Visitors walk over a floor emblazoned with pages from books on how to etch the hands, bodies and other parts of wayang kulit, at the Wayang Museum in Kota, West Jakarta. (JP/P.J. Leo) (JP/P.J. Leo)
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span class="inline inline-none">Body talk: Visitors walk over a floor emblazoned with pages from books on how to etch the hands, bodies and other parts of wayang kulit, at the Wayang Museum in Kota, West Jakarta. (JP/P.J. Leo)
According to the city managers of Old Town (Kota Tua), there are hundreds of heritage buildings in Kota Tua, owned by state-owned companies, private companies and individuals.
The area itself dates back to 1619, when construction began on Batavia, as Jakarta was then called.
When work on the 139 hectares of the city was finished in 1650, Batavia became the headquarters of the Dutch East Indies Company (VOC) ' and the Netherlands began extracting resources and wealth from its colony in earnest.
The Dutch colonizers chose the name Batavia to honor their ancestors, the Batavieren. At that time, the city was centered east of the Ciliwung River, around what is now Fatahillah Square.
Due to the city's beauty, Batavia was called Koningen van Oosten by European sailors ' 'the Queen of the East.'
Later, the same city earned the nickname Grar der Hollanders, or the Dutch Grave.
Candrian Attahiyat, the former head of the cultural heritage conservation unit of Old Town management agency, explained the turn of events.
'There was an architectural disaster. At that time the houses were built exactly resembling Amsterdam style, with small windows to face winter like in Europe ' they thought that Asia's climate was the same,' Candrian, an archaeologist from University of Indonesia, said.
'They also carried with them habits from their native lifestyle, like taking baths once a week. Epidemic outbreaks of malaria, cholera and plague ensued in 1835 and 1870. As a result, the city was moved further south to present day Banteng Field and the National Monument.'
Candrian says that almost 80 percent of Old Batavia's buildings have been razed, with the exceptions of the Wayang Museum, erected in 1640 as a Dutch church; the Fatahillah Museum, previously the VOC governor-general's office; Galangan Cafe, a former VOC warehouse; Toko Merah, the once-residence of governor-general Gustaaf Willem van Imhoff; and the Fine Art and Ceramics Museum, once the Dutch court.
Work to rejuvenate Old Town has been underway since 1905. Acting governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama says that Old Town is so precious that it has to be revitalized soon in a project involving all stakeholders.
It won't be easy, however. Traffic remains a problem, as does flooding.
Currently the Old Town is like a sleeping beauty, awaiting a kiss to bring it back to life.
