The Old Port, Sunda Kelapa Jakarta

Wednesday 3 June 2015

The Sunda Kelapa (Sundanese) - Jakarta, is an old port located in the entrance of Ciliwung river. It was the busy port during Padjajaran Kingdom period. The port built in the area of "Penjaringan" disctric - North Jakarta.

According to the old Chinese book source of Chu Fan Chi (1200), the Sunda Kelapa was named Banten. It was part of Sriwijaya kingdom (Sumatera) which one of the biggest kingdom as well as Kediri (Java) in Indonesia. It was under role of Sunda authority and this area well known for the best paper product like Aceh and Makasar. It had been become international crowded port in their period.

Thus, the Sunda Kelapa was renamed "Jayakarta" by Banten sultanate "Fatahillah". Later on, when the Dutch East India company reach this island, they built a new City of "Batavia" from the ashes of Jayakarta. The Sunda Kelapa port served as the main business port in Batavia until the late of 19 century. To accommodate the high traffic of trading, the Netherlands east indie built a new port which named "Tanjung Priok". It's nine kilometers away from the old port.

Trip Advisor Indonesia - Sunda Kelapa Port, Jakarta

Transportation (Trip/Tour Route) & Cost:

To reach this historical tourism is easy enough. From the Kota Tua, visitor can walk to north through exit gate and follow the river pedestrian. The first trip will reach the old bridge "Jembatan Kota Intan". About 500 meters from the bridge, the gate of "Sunda Kelapa" can be seen from the main street. The traveler should enter from the second gate where located 100 meters to east from the first gate. There are also other historical tourism object near this area such as: Syahbandar Tower, VOC workshop, Maritime Museum and so on. Just follow the street to the west from the first Sunda Kelapa gate to reach this location.
Alternatively, visitor can rent a bike from Kota Tua or buy ticket of city bike tour to enjoy this historical destination.

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