Colonial heritage

Colonial heritage

Former Batavia Stadhuis now Jakarta History Museum in Kota

The heritage tourism is focussed on specific interest on Indonesian history, such as colonial architectural heritage of Dutch East Indies era in Indonesia. The colonial heritage tourism mostly attracted visitors from the Netherlands that share historical ties with Indonesia, as well as Indonesian or foreign colonial history enthusiast.

The activities among others are visiting museums, churches, forts and historical colonial buildings, as well as spend some nights in colonial heritage hotels. The popular heritage tourism attractions is Kota – the centre of old Jakarta, with its Maritime Museum, Kota Intan drawbridge, Gereja Sion, Wayang Museum, Stadhuis Batavia, Fine Art and Ceramic Museum, Toko Merah, Bank Indonesia Museum, Bank Mandiri Museum, Jakarta Kota Station, and Glodok (Jakarta Chinatown). In the old ports of Sunda Kelapa in Jakarta and Paotere in Makassar the tall masted pinisi ship still sailed. The Jakarta Cathedral with neo-gothic architecture in Central Jakarta also attracted architecture enthusiast.

Bandung historical avenue around Asia Afrika and Braga Street displays rich collections of Indies and Art deco architecture from early 20th century. Several hotels such as Savoy Homann in Bandung and Hotel Majapahit in Surabaya are colonial heritage hotels suitable for those whom interested in Dutch East Indies colonial history. The VOC forts can be found in Yogyakarta, Makassar, Bengkulu and Ambon. The colonial buildings might also be found in old town parts of Indonesian cities, such as Semarang, Surabaya, Malang, Medan, and Sawahlunto. The heritage tourism might also focussed on the era of 17th- to 19th-century royal Javanese courts of Yogyakarta Sultanate, Surakarta Sunanate and Mangkunegaran.