Hello everyone, are you okay? I want to share a place that I visited while following a walking tour on the Jacatraweg route with the Jakarta Good Guide. This is my tenth route with Jakarta Good Guide. I visited Zion Church. This church is one of the Protestant churches in Jakarta with typical Dutch buildings.
This church is still open today. In fact, during Christmas Mass, many people can experience this church's beautiful architecture. Oh yes, this church is located on Jalan Pangeran Jayakarta. West Jakarta. In the past, this church was known as the Portuguese church. The reason is, that this church was deliberately built for the Portuguese people in Batavia.
From the information I got, the church was built only in 2 years from 1693 to 1695. In the past, this church was located outside the walls of the city center of Batavia, the center of Batavia City was in the Old City (currently). This church is under threat. During Japanese colonialism, this place was used as a place for the ashes of fallen soldiers.
Then, after Indonesia became independent, in 1984 several sections of the church had to be given up for the sake of widening the road. I also want to tell you that this church uses Israelis. As well as being the oldest church in Jakarta. Around the church, there used to be several wine factories.
One interesting thing about this church is that there are 11 ancient tombs with large tombstones typical of the Dutch era. One of them is the 20th Governor of Batavia, who is buried in this church, but I forget his name. He said the gravestone material was imported directly from India. I want to talk about the architecture of this building.
This building uses wood, even the foundation of the church is supported by 10,000 dolmen wood. From the guides I found, this church can still accommodate 1000 worshipers with a building area of 6,275 meters. Another thing that can be shared is that buildings that are included in class A are protected and have typical European architecture.
At first glance, this church is identical in its pillar architecture and triangular access. This church has a large window above the door. The characteristics of this building are the same as the Roman architectural style. I once pointed out the inside of the church. The interior of the church has a curved ceiling.
Maybe that's all I can share. I got this information from the guide who guided the Walking Tour this time. How about it, are you interested? If you are interested, don't forget to vote and leave a comment. See you in my next story. Thank You
About Author
Nurdiani Latifah
My name is Nurdiani Latifah. I currently live in Jakarta – Indonesia, after 25 years I live in Bandung. I am a media staff at an NGO in Indonesia. I have worked in this institution for almost 2 years on issues of women and peace. I had been a journalist in Bandung for 3 years.
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