The Kraton Kasepuhan is the oldest kraton (sultan's palace) in the

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 Gui ...

n city of

Cirebon Cirebon (, formerly rendered Cheribon or Chirebon in English) is a port city on the northern coast of the Indonesian island of Java. It is the only coastal city of West Java, located about 40 km west of the provincial border with Central J ...

. It is the residence of the Sultan of Kasepuhan and the royal palace of

Sultanate of Cirebon The Sultanate of Cirebon ( id, Kesultanan Cirebon, Pegon: كسلطانن چيربون, su, Kasultanan Cirebon) was an Islamic sultanate in West Java founded in the 15th century. It is said to have been founded by Sunan Gunungjati, as m ...

History

It was built in 1447 and its architecture and interior are a blend of Sundanese, Javanese,

Islamic Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ma ...

, Chinese and

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

styles. While the sultan still lives in the palace, several main sections are open to the public. Inside is a pavilion with white-washed walls dotted with blue-and-white

Delft Delft () is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam, to the southeast, and The Hague, to the northwest. Together with them, it is part of both the Rotterdam–The Hague metropolita ...

tiles, a marble floor and ceiling hung with French chandeliers. The legacy of

Majapahit Majapahit ( jv, ꦩꦗꦥꦲꦶꦠ꧀; ), also known as Wilwatikta ( jv, ꦮꦶꦭ꧀ꦮꦠꦶꦏ꧀ꦠ; ), was a Javanese Hindu-Buddhist thalassocratic empire in Southeast Asia that was based on the island of Java (in modern-day Indonesia ...

is preserved in its small ''

pendopo A pendhapa or pandhapa ( Javanese: ꦥꦼꦤ꧀ꦝꦥ or ꦥꦤ꧀ꦝꦥ, Indonesian spelling: pendapa, nonstandard spelling: pendopo) is a fundamental element of Javanese architecture unique in the southern central part of Java; a large pavil ...

'' on soft carved brick bases. The carvings on the ''pendopo'' columns are 1940s copies of the ancient originals. An innovation is the use of brackets branching out from the columns. The main building features unusually tall pyramidal column bases. The ornament on the double braces of this building's ''pendopo'' '' tumpang sari'' ceiling are picked out in gilt. Another unusual feature in the eclectic complex: the plaster and masonry columns feature decoration that resembles reeding. Like other old sites around Cirebon, ceramics in walls are common here, although their use in the Kraton is more restrained.Schoppert, P., Damais, S., ''Java Style'', 1997, Didier Millet, Paris, p. 54, The palace also has a somewhat neglected small museum with a restricted display of ''

wayang , also known as ( jv, ꦮꦪꦁ, translit=wayang), is a traditional form of puppet theatre play originating from the Indonesian island of Java. refers to the entire dramatic show. Sometimes the leather puppet itself is referred to as . Perfor ...

'', ''

kris The kris, or ''keris'' in the Indonesian language, is an asymmetrical dagger with distinctive blade-patterning achieved through alternating laminations of iron and nickelous iron (''pamor''). Of Javanese origin, the kris is famous for its dist ...

'',

cannon A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...

, furniture, Portuguese armour, and ancient royal clothes. In a separate nearby building the very elaborate ''Kereta Singabarong'', a 17th-century gilded coach, may be seen along with a modern duplicate carriage used on official occasions.

History

See also

References

Further reading