JAKARTA HISTORY MUSEUM

Jakarta History Museum also known as Museum Fatahillah. This museum is located in Taman Fatahillah, used to be the heart of the Dutch colonial administration. Formerly, it was Stadhuis or the Town Hall of Batavia, built in 1627 and then renovated in 1705 until 1715.

When the Dutch colonial, this building did not only function as court house. This building were also a town administration office, military headquarters and a registrar’s office. The museum has a collection of 18th century furnishings, chinaware, ancient maps of Jakarta and portraits of the former colonial governors.

The museum consist of two floors. On the first floor, there are a main hall of museum and also the prison cell. The prison cell used to be crowded with prisoners. Many of prisoners could not stand living in the small cell for long time. Some of the prisoners were robbers, thieves, murderers, deserters, debtors and insane people.On the second floor of the museum, it was the place where government officials held their meetings to discuss administrative affairs. Beside that, there was a chamber occupied by the judge.

In the backyard of the museum, there is a big old Portuguese cannon called Si Jagur. People believed that Si Jagur possesses certain mystical powers. There are two cafes in this area. One of them is Café Museum, which is located in the museum building. The other is Café Batavia, located across the square of museum.

Museum of Historical Jakarta held a unique tour. It called Tour Museum Malam. The purpose of this tour is to promote Museum of Historical Jakarta. The participants of the tour were instructed not to activate handphone, take pictures with flashlights or make noise.