Notes on the Geography of Indonesia: Jakarta: KotaThe Kota is the formerly walled part of Dutch Batavia. It's heavy with administrative relics and colonial atmosphere. Make default image size larger ![]() The Kali Besar or (not so poetically) Big Canal. Jan Pieterzoon Coen was the first governor-general of Batavia, and it was under his direction that the Dutch began imposing a Dutch town atop Vijayakarta. We've seen some of the Dutch handiwork, but a lot more reaches upstream from this, the Chicken Market Bridge, built in 1655 and the only surviving bridge of its time. ![]() The Kali Besar upstream a few minutes' walk from the Chicken Market Bridge. The buildings are shops down, homes up, with rooms atop the shaded colonnades. ![]() A close-up of the form. ![]() A few of the buildings have characteristically Dutch gables. ![]() Another instance, not so well-preserved. ![]() Some of the buildings have their gables parallel to the street; others, perpendicular to it. Note the red building midway down the street. ![]() It's the Toko Merali, or Red Shop (1730). Actually it was a duplex, though both halves were occupied at one time by Baron Van Imhoff, governor-general in the 1740s. ![]() Wallside plaque. ![]() To the east of the canal, the Dutch built a large square. On its east side was the hall of justice built in 1870 and now a fine-arts museum. ![]() The nearby Supreme Court is even older, built in 1848 and still in the business. ![]() On the south side of the square was the Stadhuis or city hall. Older still--built in 1710--it's now the Jakarta History Museum. ![]() Dungeons in the basement. ![]() Upstairs, there's fine cabinetry, probably made by Chinese craftsmen. ![]() Another example of their handiwork. ![]() A late addition: Bank Indonesia, built in 1910 as the Java Bank but renovated in the 1930s. ![]() The stasiun kota, or city station, was built in 1919. The architect, F.J.L. Ghijels, appears to have known the Helsinki Station of 1904, designed by Eero Saarinen. ![]() The barrel-vault girders were imported from the Netherlands. |
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