[JKT #2] Museum Taman Prasasti (Inscription Park Museum) - PART 2

...For the 'park' assumption, I was right - it was totally outdoor with the form of a memorial park.

As for the 'prasasti' assumption...

• Don't even think to find a prasasti like Mulawarman, Talang Tuo, or Tugu - like the ones in Museum Gajah. Museum Taman Prasasti is actually a cemetery.
• And not just a regular cemetery - it's a Dutch colonial era-cemetery that's been around since more than 200 years ago.
• AND it's one of the oldest modern cemeteries in the world (if not the oldest), on par with those (more) well-known old cemetery parks in France or USA.

Say what now?!

So it really does have the Angels and Demons-slash-Ravenswood vibe...

Flash-forward to until after I recovered from a moment of awe, I bought the ticket (worth IDR 5000, by the way) and chatted with the museum staff.

And more knowledge to come:

• The cemetery was officially opened in 1797 - hence the title of 'one of the oldest modern cemeteries in the world'. Some even say that it's the oldest modern cemetery in the world.
• It was originally established to bury Dutch noblemen and high-ranking officials in Batavia (the Dutch colonial name for Jakarta), but along with time it was also used to bury other foreigners (e.g. Olivie Raffles - the wife of the famous Stamford Raffles) and even Indonesians (e.g. the famous activist who died young - Soe Hok Gie).
• The cemetery was closed in 1975, and was officially opened as a museum in 1977.

So what sets this cemetery apart, that made the government feel the needs to make it a museum?

Here are some photos and you can see (and judge) for yourself...

Angels guarding the tombs

The tomb of Indonesian activist Soe Hok Gie (at the rightmost of the photo)

A beautiful statue-tomb of a Batavian pastor

There's even a Japanese tomb - it's of the soldiers who died fighting the Allies during World War 2

Panoramic view of the tombs (and the angels) in Museum Taman Prasasti

Where else in Jakarta can you find a cemetery as beautiful as this? Hell, I thought I could only find cemeteries like this in Europe or America. But there's one right here in the middle of the city!

So come explore and enjoy it to the max :)

-redPacker