Visiting Museum Bahari, The Biggest VOC Spices Storage in Jakarta

Indonesia is a country also known for its maritime potential. There are a lot of stories and legends that I do not know about that as well. On Sunday, 8 October 2017, I got a chance to explore the north side of Jakarta to visit the Nautical Museum or Museum Bahari, and Sunda Kelapa Historical Harbor, and here are what I can share with you.

Another day off is another exploration for me. I always try to fulfill my day off to do things and make the most of it. Travel is one of my hobbies, so I said "Mom, I think I want to go out for a travel tomorrow" right a night before to my Mom. At first, I had no idea where should I go. Then, I remembered that I once watched a documentary movie talked about a Museum Bahari situated in the north of Jakarta. So, I decided to find out where the museum is and how to go there.

I went to Jakarta all alone. Yes, it is only me, myself, and I. To go to Jakarta, I took the commuter train at 09.00 AM. I felt so lucky since I did not have to take the commuter from another station again because now it is already connected to the train station near my home. Unfortunately, since it was the very first day for the commuter to connect, hundreds of people were waiting and getting so excited to go to Jakarta. So, yeah, I did not get a seat on the commuter during the trip from 09.20 AM to 10.45 AM to Jakarta.



I got off the train after thousands of people had gotten off. Just like what I have mentioned before, I actually had no idea in what direction I shall go. The very first thing that I did was walk around to Museum Fatahillah to find the attractions sites map. The attractions map is located right on the square of Museum Fatahillah, but it was not an in-wall magazine, signage board, or something. The map is only a printed tarpaulin, and it is used to cover a tent frame. I feel sorry for that. After I took the image of the map, I decided to have sightseeing near the square.

After I captured the map with my phone, I opened the navigation apps that I have. It showed that the Musuem Bahari is located around 1,1 KM away. Kill two birds with one stone, on the way to the museum I visited some places as well such as Kerta Niaga, Jembatan Kota Intan, VOC Galangan, Toko Merah, and Sunda Kelapa Historical Harbor. Even though I visited and passed a lot of places, I could not take a lot of pictures since it was a bit crowded.

Kerta Niaga building is one of the Jakarta Old Town Revitalization Corporation (JOTRC) projects. The project is to renovate some old buildings in Jakarta. You can find out the story of this revitalization project by check the link on; BBC Indonesia News. The Kerta Niaga building will be one of the commercial buildings that provide a culinary center and hostel as well. I was so lucky because there was a photography exhibition in the Kerta Niaga building.

Moving on, I continued my way to another place which Jembatan Kota Intan. I actually passed Toko Merah building, but since there are a lot of people who were standing right in front of the building, I decided to choose another building as the object. Here is the building of KPP Pratama Jakarta Barat and Chartered Bank of India, Australia, and China.

Jembatan Kota Intan is an old bridge built by Dutch in 1628. At the very beginning, the bridge's name was Engelse Brug in Dutch or English Bridge since it connected the Dutch and English Fort that separated with a river. One year later, the bridge was badly damaged due to the attack of Banten and Mataram Kingdom to Batavia. Then, the Dutch fixed the bridge and change its name into De Hoenderpasar Bug or Poultry Market Bridge since it is located right next to the market. The bridge changed its name many times such as; Wihelmina Brug, Het Middelpunt Brug, and the last ones that is being used until now is Jembatan Kota Intan. It is named Jembatan Kota Intan since it is located next to the Bastion of Batavia Castle.

Moving on, I reached the Museum Bahari. It was quite hot on that day. Luckily, the museum is located next to a convenient store. So in case you are thirsty or hungry, you can buy drinks or meals at that place. The Museum Bahari is also located next to Galangan VOC. Galagan VOC used to be a large shipyard building as well as the based office for Vereenigde Oost Indische Compagnie (VOC), but now it is now a gallery and a cafe as well managed by local people.

The Museum Bahari offers you a very interesting ambiance of Dutch East Indies. This building is used to spice storage for VOC. The building was built in three-phase in 1718, 1773, and 1774. The building was inaugurated as Museum Bahari on 17 July 1977. This building consists of three-floor; ground, upper ground, and attic. There are a lot of collections that you can find in this museum. It is not only part of ships but also you can find the replica of small ships with 1:1 scale. Also, you can find the mini replica of Pinisi Nusantara in this museum. Pinisi is a traditional ship by the Bugis tribe from South Sulawesi. The identical shape of this ship is the hull which looks like a coconut husk. The ship is also equipped with seven front, two main, and two top ship's screens. The approximate weight of this ship is 120 tons with the length up to 37 meters. You can also meet the puppet replica of nautical legends and explorer characters in Museum Bahari.

Moving on, the next place that I visited is Menara Syahbandar. Menara Syahbandar is located right next to the Museum Bahari. The building height is 18 meters, and it is used to be the highest tower during the Dutch East Indies era. The tower was built in 1839 to monitor the incoming and outgoing boats as well as the customs office. Since this building was built on the swamp area, Menara Syahbandar slowly leaned to the south and from that known as Menara Miring or Leaning Tower. This building is also known as Shaking Tower since it feels slightly shaky whenever a heavy vehicle passes by on the street right next to the building. In 1977, the building was Jakarta's 0 KM mark which later on moved to the National Monument. From the top of the tower, you can see 360 degrees view of North Jakarta.

The next destination is Sunda Kelapa Historical Harbor. It is located only three minutes by walk from Menara Syahbandar. Sunda Kelapa is the oldest harbor in Java. It already exists from the fifth century, and it is used to be the biggest harbor in Java island. The glorious period of this harbor is when the Dutch take control of the harbor. The canal length that used to be only 810 meters became 1,825 meters under the control of the Dutch. Since silting happen in the 19th century, the activity became less crowded hence the Dutch started to move the activities to Tanjung Priok harbor.

After I visited those places, I decided to go to Ancol to enjoy the afternoon breeze at Ancol's dock.

That's all my exploration during the day off that I had last week. Overall, the places are amazing, I really like it. Hopefully, the government will support and give some improvements in order to keep and conserve the Nautical Museum, Syahbandar Tower, and Sunda Kelapa Historical Harbor. I am looking forward to visiting this place again in the future.

sources;
- Information Board
- Jakarta Panduan Wisata
- CNN Indonesia
- BBC.com