The Gedung Agung (

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

'': The Great Building'') is one of six presidential palaces of

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

, it is located in the city of

Yogyakarta Yogyakarta (; jv, ꦔꦪꦺꦴꦒꦾꦏꦂꦠ ; pey, Jogjakarta) is the capital city of Special Region of Yogyakarta in Indonesia, in the south-central part of the island of Java. As the only Indonesian royal city still ruled by a monarchy, ...

. The palace complex covers an area of approximately 4.4 hectares. It is located in front of Fort Vredeburg.

History

It was initially built in 1824 on an estate owned by the 18th Dutch resident of Yogyakarta, Anthonie Hendriks Smissaert. The first building was designed by an architect named A. Payen, with typical Indies tropical architecture design. The construction of the building was delayed by the ongoing

Java War The Java War ( jv, ꦥꦼꦫꦁꦗꦮ) or Diponegoro War () was fought in central Java from 1825 to 1830, between the colonial Dutch Empire and native Javanese rebels. The war started as a rebellion led by Prince Diponegoro, a leading member ...

, a rebellion led by Prince

Diponegoro Prince Diponegoro ( jv, ꦢꦶꦥꦤꦼꦒꦫ; born Bendara Raden Mas Mustahar, ; later Bendara Raden Mas Antawirya ; 11 November 1785 – 8 January 1855), also known as Dipanegara, was a Javanese prince who opposed the Dutch colonial rule. The ...

and was only completed in 1832. An

earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, fr ...

shook and toppled the first palace on 10 June 1867 and the building was initially rebuilt in 1869. The status of Yogyakarta was changed from Resident to a province on 19 December 1927, thus the building changed its purpose as the governor's office. During the struggle for Independence, the capital city of Jakarta was occupied by Allied forces and the government was moved to Yogyakarta on 6 January 1946. The palace became the residence of president Sukarno between 1946 and 1949, until the government was moved back to Jakarta on 28 December 1949.
, setneg.go.id After Suharto's became the 2nd president of Indonesia, the palace was made a venue for afternoon parade on every 17 August to commemorate Indonesia's independence. Later in 1991 the building is used to celebrate every moment of seconds of the declaration of the independence.Gedung Agung
, Gedung Agung

Feature

On the yard of the building stands two guardian statues of ''Dwarapala'' with heights of and an obelisk made of

andesite Andesite () is a volcanic rock of intermediate composition. In a general sense, it is the intermediate type between silica-poor basalt and silica-rich rhyolite. It is fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic in texture, and is composed predo ...

named ''Tugu Dagoba'' (Dagoba Monument), or ''Tugu Lilin'' (Candle Monument) by locals, which stands at in height. In total there are 26 buildings in the palatial complex with ''Gedung Induk'' (main building) as the main audience hall for receiving guests.

References

{{Commonscat, Gedung Agung Presidential palaces in Indonesia Buildings and structures in Yogyakarta Cultural Properties of Indonesia in Yogyakarta

History

Feature

See also

References