Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Ancient site: Kaibon Palace & Fort Speelwijk, West Java

On one sunday morning we went to Banten historic sites. We set The Ruins of Kaibon Palace as our first destination, next is The Great Banten Mosque and then Fort Speelwijk.(well actually we went to several sites).
Yoso and i, wanted to sketch the location and also see those beautiful places with our own eyes. 
My other two friends; Davinna and Cita, the ancient places lover, they look around, took photographs and observe.
This was a great journey. It's not just traveling to other (near) city, but also traveling through time.
I tried hard to understand and imagine how was this place look like in previous time. Well, i didn't get it ;p, just some blurry visions.

my sketching thing? oh, i just got 3 sketches in these places! one each! what a shame! i over excited with this ruins. next time (i definitely will go to this place again) i'll do better.



These sketches are not so urban..but i may say, this is one of urban people's interest :)


Kaibon Palace: The room of Queen Aisyah


The Great Banten Mosque: Outside the area, so full of variety stall.


Fort Speelwijk: A shortcut to another side 


Here's a short history of Kaibon Palace:
"Refer to its name Kaibon, derived from word 'Ibu' (mother/Keibuan). This palace ruled by a queen for temporary. The palace name was coined from the fact that Sultan Muhammad Syaifudin (the last Banten sultan) built it as a gift to his mother, Queen Asyiah. Since the king who supposed to be in throne was not adult yet. Sultan Syaifudin was 5 months old when he got the reign. Now remain the ruins with moats and Small River nearby and have gorgeous gateway.

Keraton Kaibon lies about one kilometer from the Banten Grand Mosque. This palace had erected in the early 19th century, it sits on an immense 15,000 square meters. The premises were broken into at the order of Dutch Governor General Daendels in 1813, (subsequently ending the sultan's reign) and then damaged by the Dutch in 1832. Today, the ancient walls, foundations, the gateway and main gate bear truth to the once-powerful Banten Sultanate. The admission of this area is free".

(source: http://www.indonesia-tourism.com/banten/kaibon-palace.html)
And this is a short history of Fort Speelwijk:
"Fort Speelwijk was built in 1682 by VOC and expanded in 1685 and 1731 to control the activities of the Banten kingdom and protect the Dutch interests at Banten. Situated not so far from Chinese temple Avalokiteshvara, this fortress directly facing to the sea. From this point, the Dutch troopers was watching and guarding the fort from pirates and local heroes. Inside the fortress, there's an Old Dutch cemetery. One of the buried bodies is a man who was born in Bergen-op-Zoom in 17th century. The Ruin of fortress implies that it was a great fortress in Banten, height about 5 meters and length of each side of 80 meters; also the canal for defense surrounded it. It has four bastions that still stand sturdily."
(source: http://www.indonesia-tourism.com/banten/speelwijk.html)

Link to my blog to see some images of Kaibon Palace: 
http://hembusansemilir.multiply.com/photos/album/89/Ancient_site_Kaibon_Palace_Banten_Lama_Serang_Banten

2 comments:

DonaldSketchArt said...

A lot of improvement on the sketching skill and style. Great research on the story behind the sketches.

Wish i'd had come and seen the site myself and gotten to link the history to the ruins like you guys did.

keep up the good work, mba Atit.

DHAR CEDHAR said...

great!