7 Historical Tourism in Central Java

IDNTour - Central Java is a province located in the central part of Java Island. Apart from being famous for its ngapak accent, it turns out that Central Java also has a variety of fascinating historical tourist attractions. Here are 7 tourist attractions that are close to the breath of history in Central Java.

1. Mendut Temple Tour

image : Tripadvisor

Mendut Temple is located in Magelang Regency, Central Java. This temple is located not far from the Borobudur temple, because it is also often a tourist destination with historical nuances for local and foreign tourists.

Mendut Temple is a Buddhist-patterned temple which means it is a relic of the Buddhist Kingdom in the past. If you visit here visitors will find a jaladwara or drainage channel from the hallway along the outer wall of the ledge.

This temple is square with a height of up to 24.6 meters. On the walls of Mendut temple, there are reliefs in the form of vines and flower carvings that have historical stories related to Buddha.

2. Tour of the Great Mosque of Demak

image : Popbela

In addition to Buddhist temples, Central Java province also has the Great Demak mosque which is a legacy of Islamic style, to be precise during the time of the spread of Islam by Wali Songo.

The age of this mosque has reached 500 years and is designated as a cultural heritage. One of the interesting things about the architecture of this mosque is that it has a main pillar made of piles of tatal (wooden blocks) which are said to have been made by Sunan Kalijogo.

While the other three pillars are made of teak wood. Apart from being a place of worship, the Great Demak mosque is also one of the religious tourism destinations for various Muslims in particular.

3. Lawang Sewu

image : idetrips

Lawang Sewu is one of the tourist destinations in the city of Semarang, Central Java province which presents historical nuances during the Dutch colonial period.

This is because Lawang Sewu is a former Nederlands-Indische Spoorweg Maatschappij (NIS) building. In addition, Lawang Sewu was also the cruelest prison during the Japanese government. Lawang Sewu is not only interesting in terms of history and its mysterious and haunted impression. But it is also one of the photo shoot spots for pre-wedding.

Lawang Sewu is perfect for visitors who like mysterious tours. In fact, even though the name is Lawang Sewu, the number of doors in the building is only 429.

4. The Old City of Semarang

image : nativelindonesia

Kota Lama Semarang has very strong cultural and historical elements. With so many vintage-style colonial buildings, Kota Lama Semarang is one of the tourist destinations with historical nuances.

In the Kota Lama Semarang area, visitors can enjoy culinary delights such as rice gandul and chicken rice typical of Semarang as well as tripe fried rice which is famous for its delicious taste.

In addition, there is also the Semarang Contemporary Art Gallery, which is located at Jalan Taman Srigunting number 5-6. Besides that, there are also many interesting photo spots, one of which is the Blenduk Church.

Not to forget also vintage-style lodging for visitors who want to stay in the Old City of Semarang.

5. Keraton Kasunanan Surakarta Hadiningrat Solo

image : ANTARA

Keraton Kasunanan Surakarta is a palace built in 1744 by Susuhunan Pakubuwana II. Currently, the Kasunanan Surakarta palace is one of the tourist destinations in the city of Surakarta.

Reporting from wikipedia.org, most of the palace complexes are museums that store various collections belonging to the kasunanan, including various gifts from European kings, replicas of the palace heirlooms, and gamelan.

From its architecture, this palace complex includes, Kompleks Alun-alun Lor / Utara, Kompleks Pendopo Bangsal Ageng Sasono Sumewo, Kompleks Bangsal Siti Hinggil Lor / Utara, Komandungan Lor / Utara Complex, Kompleks Bangsal Sri Manganti, Kompleks Kedaton, Kompleks Ward, Kompleks Ward Sri Manganti Kidul / South Ward, and Kamandungan Kidul / South Ward, as well as the Siti Hinggil Kidul / Selatan Complex and Alun-alun Kidul / Selatan.

Visitors can enjoy the atmosphere of the kingdom era in this Keraton area and also capture moments in unique and interesting spots.

6. Ngarsopuro Night Market

image : Warta Ekonomi

Ngarsopuro Market or better known as Ngarsopuro Night Market is located on Jalan Diponegoro which is close to the Mangkunegaraan Palace and Surakarta Kasunanan Palace areas. What is unique about this market is that the seller must be a person who has a Surakarta KTP and the goods sold must contain the characteristics of the city of Solo.

This market operates in the afternoon and is only open for 4 hours. In this market, visitors can be satisfied buying various kinds of goods that are identical to the city of Solo and also taste a variety of culinary delights.

Initially the Ngarsopuro market was called Pon market, but now the Pon market is no longer there, there is only a busy intersection with traders who are better known as the Ngarsopuro market which is now a traditional night tourism destination in Solo. 

7. Masjid Menara Kudus

Besides the Great Demak mosque, in Central Java there is also the Menara Kudus mosque which is a legacy from the time of the spread of Islam by Sunan Kudus, Ja'far Shodiq.

This mosque has an architectural style that is a mixture of Hinduism and Islam because at that time there were still many Hindus. In celebration of the anniversary of the Great Demak mosque, 485 doves were released as a symbol of peace between religious communities in Indonesia.

Another thing that is interesting is that there is a shield stone in the place where the mosque is held, which is said to have originated from Baitul Maqdis (Al-Quds) Jerusalem, Palestine. Apart from worshiping, visitors who come here can also enjoy the historical nuances of this mosque.

Interested in enjoying the special facts of Central Java Province ? Come on, immediately spend some time on vacation in this area