Jakarta Cathedral ( id, Gereja Katedral Jakarta, nl, Kathedraal van Jakarta) is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...

Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...

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 ...

, which is also the seat of the Roman Catholic archbishop of Jakarta, currently

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

Ignatius Suharyo Hardjoatmodjo Ignatius Cardinal Suharyo Hardjoatmodjo (born 9 July 1950) is an Indonesian prelate of the Catholic Church. He has been Archbishop of Jakarta since 2010, after serving as Archbishop of Semarang from 1997 to 2009. He is commonly known as Archbish ...

. Its official name is , derived from the original name in Dutch, ( en, The Church of Our Lady of the Assumption). This current cathedral was consecrated in 1901 and built in the

neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

style, a common architectural style to build churches at that time. The Jakarta Cathedral is located in

Central Jakarta Central Jakarta ( id, Jakarta Pusat) is one of the five administrative cities () which form the Special Capital Region of Jakarta. It had 902,973 inhabitants according to the 2010 censusBiro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011. and 1,056,896 at the 2 ...

near Merdeka Square and Merdeka Palace, right in-front of the cathedral stands the Istiqlal Mosque.

History

COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM De kathedraal aan het Waterlooplein in Batavia TMnr 60025933

After the arrival of

Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock ...

in 1619, the Roman Catholic Church was banned in the Dutch East Indies and was limited to

Flores Flores is one of the Lesser Sunda Islands, a group of islands in the eastern half of Indonesia. Including the Komodo Islands off its west coast (but excluding the Solor Archipelago to the east of Flores), the land area is 15,530.58 km2, and th ...

and

Timor Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is East Timor–Indonesia border, divided between the sovereign states of East Timor on the eastern part and Indonesia on the western p ...

. The Netherlands was known to support

Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

and tried to limit the influence and authority of the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...

. During the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

, the Netherlands, including the Dutch East Indies and its other colonies, fell under the control of the French Empire. In 1806,

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

installed his Catholic younger brother Louis Napoleon ( nl, Lodewijk, links=no) as the king of the Netherlands. Since then, the Catholic Church has been free to operate in the Dutch East Indies. The commissary general of

Batavia Batavia may refer to: Historical places * Batavia (region), a land inhabited by the Batavian people during the Roman Empire, today part of the Netherlands * Batavia, Dutch East Indies, present-day Jakarta, the former capital of the Dutch East In ...

, Du Bus de Gisignies (1825–1830), was credited with providing land to build the first Catholic church in Batavia. The former residence of General de Kock in the Weltevredeen area was renovated to be a church. Monseigneur Prinsen blessed and inaugurated the church on 6 November 1829 and named it "Our Lady of the Assumption." The church was renovated in 1859, but collapsed on 9 April 1890. The present church is the structure that was rebuilt between 1891 and 1901. Pastor Antonius Dijkmans, SJ was appointed as the architect. Construction was halted due to a lack of funding, but the church's new bishop, Mgr E. S. Luypen, SJ, raised the necessary funds in the Netherlands, and architect MJ Hulswit resumed construction in 1899. "De Kerk van Onze Lieve Vrowe ten Hemelopneming - The Church of Our Lady of the Assumption" was blessed and inaugurated by Mgr Edmundus Sybrandus Luypen, SJ on 21 April 1901. The church was renovated between 1988 and 2002. A tunnel connecting the church and Istiqlal Mosque was constructed between 2020 and 2021.

Architecture

The plan of the cathedral took the form of a cross with a length of 60 meters and 10 meters wide, plus 5 metres on each aisle. It is a cathedral because it contains the "

cathedra A ''cathedra'' is the raised throne of a bishop in the early Christian basilica. When used with this meaning, it may also be called the bishop's throne. With time, the related term ''cathedral'' became synonymous with the "seat", or principa ...

", the throne of

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

. The main entrance of the building is facing west. At the

trumeau A trumeau is the central pillar or mullion supporting the tympanum of a large doorway, commonly found in medieval buildings.''Merriam-Webster Dictionary''"trumeau"/ref> An architectural feature, it is often sculpted. Gallery File:Trumeau.jpg, T ...

of the main portal stands a statue of Our Lady while on top of the portal there is a sentence written in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

: ''"Beatam Me Dicentes Omnes Generationes"'' which means "All generations shall call me blessed". Besides, there is a large round stained glass Rozeta Rosa Mystica, which is the symbol of Mother Mary. There are three main spires in Jakarta Cathedral: the two tallest ones measured 60 metres tall and are located in front on each side of the portal. The north tower is called ''Turris Davidica'', or "Tower of David"—a devotional title of Mary symbolizing Mary as the refuge and protector against the power of darkness. The south tower, also 60 metres tall, is called "The Ivory Tower", which the whiteness and pureness of ivory describe the pureness of the Virgin Mary. On the Ivory Tower, there are old clocks that are still functioning as well as a church bell. The third spire rises above the roof's cross intersection and measured 45 metres tall from the ground, and is called "The Angelus Dei Tower". The building consists of two floors, the upper floor can be reached from a flight of stairs in the northern tower. Originally, the second floor used to be the place for the

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...

during masses, but since the cathedral is quite old, there is concern that the building cannot support the weight of too many people upstairs. Today, the upper floor functions as the Jakarta Cathedral Museum, housing the relics of Catholic rituals, such as the silver cups, hats and robes of the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

and Indonesian archbishops and cardinals. The museum also displays the history of

Roman Catholicism in Indonesia The Catholic Church in Indonesia ( id, Gereja Katolik di Indonesia) is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the pope in Rome. Catholicism is one of the six approved religions in Indonesia, the others being I ...

. On the southern side, there is a statue of

Pietà The Pietà (; meaning " pity", "compassion") is a subject in Christian art depicting the Virgin Mary cradling the dead body of Jesus after his body was removed from the cross. It is most often found in sculpture. The Pietà is a specific form ...

, describing the sadness of Mother Mary while holding the body of Jesus Christ after the crucifixion. The wall surrounded the interior has several scenes depicting

Stations of the Cross The Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross, also known as the Way of Sorrows or the Via Crucis, refers to a series of images depicting Jesus Christ on the day of Crucifixion of Jesus, his crucifixion and accompanying prayers. The station ...

. The cathedral has four pulpits for

confession A confession is a statement – made by a person or by a group of persons – acknowledging some personal fact that the person (or the group) would ostensibly prefer to keep hidden. The term presumes that the speaker is providing information th ...

services, two on each side. At the centre, there is a high raised wooden podium with shell-shaped roof for sound reflection. The podium was installed in 1905 and display the images of Hell on the lower side while the images of Jesus' sermons and other scenes are on the middle side. The top of the podium displays the scene of Heaven adorned with winged

angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...

s. On the southern side, there is a large neo-Gothic style organ made in Verschueren, Belgium, then moved and installed in Jakarta in 1988. This organ was taken from Amby village near Maastricht. There are three altars in this cathedral: on the left side is "The Altar of Saint Mary", to celebrate the assumption of Mary to Heaven. The altar was made in 1915 by Atelier Ramakers. On the right side is "The Altar of Saint Joseph", completed in May 1922. The throne of the bishop, called the ''cathedra'', is located on the left side with three thrones. The main altar located in the centre was made in the 19th century in the Netherlands. It was moved from a

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

church in Groningen in 1956. In this altar, there is a main cross of Jesus and the tabernacle. The body of the building was made of thick red bricks covered with plaster and applied with patterns to mimic natural stone construction. The large wall was made to support wide-spanned teak beams in the roof construction. The top of the spires was made from the iron frame, while the roofs were made of teak wood construction. Iron and wood are not suitable as typical neo-Gothic architecture materials usually employ stone masonry. However, these materials were chosen because they are relatively lighter than stone masonry, considering Indonesia is a region that is prone to earthquakes.

Music

There is a piano, two

electone Electone is the trademark used for electronic organs produced by Yamaha Corporation, Yamaha. With the exception of the top end performance models, most Electones are based on the design of the Electric organ#Spinet organs (1949–), spinet electro ...

s, and two playable pipe organs.

Pipe organ

On an elevated platform in the south transept sits an organ made by George Verschueren of

Tongeren Tongeren (; french: Tongres ; german: Tongern ; li, Tóngere ) is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg, in the southeastern corner of the Flemish region of Belgium. Tongeren is the oldest town in Belgium, as the onl ...

, Belgium, built in 1988. Draw stops were arranged on each side of the key desk and wind was activated from a stop on the left side. Manuals are of four octaves and the flat pedalboard of two-and-a-half octaves. The organ loft railing and organ casework reflect the gothic nature of the cathedral and all timbers are stained to match the existing woodwork of the church. Pipes are presented in flats with a large central tower and two flanking small towers in the left and right extremities of the case. The stoplist of the organ is: Manual I (56 notes/4 octaves) # Gamba 8' # Bourdon 8' # Flute 8' # Nazard 2 2/3' # Gemshorn 2' # Trumpet 8' Manual II (56 notes/4 octaves) # Bourdon 16' # Open Diapason 8' # Stopped Diapason 8' # Octave 4' # Fifteenth 2' # Sesquieltera rk Bass # Sesquieltera rk Treble # Mixture IV ranks Pedal (30 notes/2 1/2 octaves) # Subbass 16' # Open Wood 8' Coupler * I + II * P + I * P + II

Gallery

File:Jakarta Indonesia Jakarta-Cathedral-08.jpg,

Altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...

File:Jakarta Cathedral During Mass.jpg, The cathedral during

mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...

File:Pieta_Gereja_Katedral_Jakarta.jpg, Jakarta Cathedral

File:Jakarta Indonesia Jakarta-Cathedral-02.jpg, The

stoup A holy water font or stoup is a vessel containing holy water which is generally placed near the entrance of a church. It is often placed at the base of a crucifix or religious representation. It is used in the Catholic Church, Anglican Churches ...

of the cathedral, with a memorial stone to Marius Hulswit File:Jakarta Indonesia Jakarta-Cathedral-07.jpg,

Spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spires are ...

s of Jakarta Cathedral File:Saint Francis Xavier statue, Jakarta Cathedral, Indonesia.jpg,

Saint Francis Xavier Francis Xavier (born Francisco de Jasso y Azpilicueta; Latin: ''Franciscus Xaverius''; Basque: ''Frantzisko Xabierkoa''; French: ''François Xavier''; Spanish: ''Francisco Javier''; Portuguese: ''Francisco Xavier''; 7 April 15063 December ...

statue

References

External links

Gereja Katedral website

Jakarta’s Neo Gothic Catholic Cathedral - Indonesia Travel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Mary Of The Assumption Cathedral, Jakarta Churches in Jakarta Colonial architecture in Jakarta Cultural Properties of Indonesia in Jakarta Dutch colonial architecture in Indonesia Roman Catholic cathedrals in Indonesia Roman Catholic churches completed in 1901 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Indonesia