Trip to Cirebon, West Java (1)

Visiting Cirebon was my old dream.
I couldn't remember, when exactly I began to dream visiting Cirebon with my family. After reading some magazines, I had a picture in my mind that Cirebon is a city/town that is rich of culture, has lots of beautiful old buildings, has delicious traditional food and is located not too far from Jakarta.
It must be very interesting and unique place!

Finally, my dream came true... Yes, we made it! Last month, on the first day of our children school holiday, we travelled by train to Cirebon. We started our journey from Gambir Train Station in Central Jakarta, and it took 3 hours only to arrive in Cirebon Station. For our children, this was their first experience of traveling by intercity train.

The majestic mount of Ceremai & flat rice fields were welcoming us just before we entered the Cirebon Station.

Cirebon (formerly referred to as Cheribon in English) is a port city on the north coast of the Indonesian island of Java. It is located in the province of West Java near the provincial border with Central Java, approximately 297 km east of Jakarta.
The seat of a former Sultanate, the city's West and Central Java border location have seen its history influenced by both Sundanese and Javanese culture and also Chinese.
source : wikipedia

Kota Udang (~Shrimp City) is the Cirebon's nickname, but shrimp is not the only thing this second largest city in West Java has to over.
So... lets enjoy Cirebon!

where to go? what to visit? what is special about this city?
Those are some common questions for most of people when visiting a new place. And to be honest, we only got little information about this town from the internet. So we booked the hotel a couple of weeks before and off we go. With a help from a free map given by the hotel, we enjoyed this town.

First thing that we tought we should see was Keraton/Palace. It'll be good to show the children the traditional Indonesian Palace. They might not be too interested, but it's good for them to have an experience visiting some of them.

Keraton Kanoman
Keraton Kanoman is one of four palaces in Cirebon. It was founded by Sultan Anom I in 1677. In the outer area of the palace, the siti inggil, are masonry versions of the classic Javanese pendopo form, as opposed to the more conventional timber structures.
source: wikipedia

The other Keraton that we visited was Keraton Kasepuhan, the biggest and the oldest keraton in Cirebon.

Keraton Kasepuhan
It is the residence of the Sultan of Kasepuhan. It was built in 1527 and its architecture and interior are a blend of Sundanese, Javanese, Islamic, Chinese and Dutch styles.

After going around the keraton complex... this was the most interesting part for my son; the Cannon, made of cast iron.

Next, we visited some old buildings... not as old as the keraton, but they're quite old and of course...beautiful. All of them were built during Dutch occupation period.

It was a beautiful late afternoon after our children enjoying their swimming time, when we decided to walk together and see those beautiful heritage buildings. We visited about 7 buildings that located close each other.

I will not explain one by one of those buildings, sorry.
This beautiful blog, The Aroengbinang Travelog may give you lots of information about those buildings.

One of the places that always on our 'must visit list' is Traditional Market. It's a must! Like every city have their own uniqueness, I believe that every market have their own specialties.

Kanoman Market
Located in the front area of Keraton Kanoman, this biggest market in Cirebon is always busy from morning to late afternoon.
From the outside, it's like other market... crowded, hustle bustle. Love it!

If we look around what they sell, we'll realize... seafood is all around.
As a port city and known as Kota Udang (~Shrimp City), it's not surprising if fresh seafood is available at anytime.

Lots of little attraction entertained us in the market...

The most favorite one for us was watching a lady with her capability of shredding chillies rapidly. Awesome!

I'll write more about the food in my next posting.
next : Trip to Cirebon, West Java (2), what to buy, what to eat.