Muntilan is an administrative district ( ''kecamatan'') in the Magelang Regency,

Central Java Central Java (, ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia, located in the middle of the island of Java. Its administrative capital is Semarang. It is bordered by West Java in the west, the Indian Ocean and the Special Region of Yogya ...

. Muntilan is about 15 km south of Magelang, 10 km from Mungkid, 25 km north of

Yogyakarta Yogyakarta is the capital city of the 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 Hamengkubuwono, a monarchy, Yogyakarta is regarded as an importan ...

, and 90 km from the main town of

Semarang Semarang (Javanese script, Javanese: , ''Kutha Semarang'') is the capital and largest city of Central Java province in Indonesia. It was a major port during the Netherlands, Dutch Dutch East Indies, colonial era, and is still an important regio ...

located on the northern coast of Java. The town of Muntilan is on the old railway route between Kebon Polo station in Magelang and the main Tugu station in

. Tourists on their way to the well-known Buddhist temple

Borobudur Borobudur, also transcribed Barabudur (, ), is a 9th-century Mahayana Buddhist temple in Magelang Regency, near the city of Magelang and the town of Muntilan, in Central Java, Indonesia. Constructed of gray andesite-like stone, the temple consi ...

usually pass through Muntilan. Muntilan_090917-13250_mun

Muntilan township is one of the main market centers on the western slopes of Mount Merapi, a major volcano in central

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

within the administrative ambit of the regional government in Magelang. The locality is densely populated; in mid-2024 there was a population of 81,555 people living in an area of 30.36 km², indicating a population density of 2,686 per km².

History

The adjacent countryside has many villages with

pesantren ''Pesantren'' is a traditional Islamic boarding school in Indonesia. It is taught either in private houses, a ''wiktionary:pondok, pondok'' or a mosque, the teaching includes classical Islamic texts and ''santri'' thought, taught by Kyai, ''kya ...

and strong allegiances to stricter forms of

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

. In contrast, villages closer to the Kraton palaces of

Surakarta Surakarta (Javanese script, Javanese: , Pegon script, Pegon: ), known colloquially as Solo (Javanese script, Javanese: ; ), is a major List of regencies and cities of Indonesia, city in Central Java, Indonesia. The city adjoins Karanganyar Reg ...

and

tend to be more influenced by

syncretic Syncretism () is the practice of combining different beliefs and various schools of thought. Syncretism involves the merging or assimilation of several originally discrete traditions, especially in the theology and mythology of religion, thus ...

views of Javanese beliefs.

Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

have long had a presence in the town, having a

school A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the Educational architecture, building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most co ...

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

, and a necropolis containing the remains of many of their earlier members. Petrus Josephus Zoetmulder being a more recent internee.

Frans van Lith Franciscus Georgius Josephus van Lith, SJ, or often called Frans van Lith or affectionately Romo van Lith ( Javanese:"Father van Lith"; 17 May 1863 – 9 January 1926), was a Jesuit priest from Oirschot, Netherlands, who pioneered the Catholic ...

, a Jesuit priest from The Netherlands, arrived in Muntilan in 1897 and played an important role in promoting Catholicism in the area. Indonesia's first Catholic cardinal,

Justinus Darmojuwono Justinus Darmojuwono (2 November 1914 – 3 February 1994) was an Indonesian Cardinal (Catholicism), cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Semarang, Archbishop of Semarang from 1963 to 1981 and was el ...

, is buried in Kerkhoof Muntilan, a cemetery for prominent Catholics in the town. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Muntilan was the site of a Japanese prisoner of war camp which contained many Dutch families.

Current

The streetscape of Muntilan along Jl. Pemuda (Pemuda Street) provides one of the more classic street views in Central Java. The line of shop-fronts, and the enclave of Chinese-based businesses in the central area, provide clues as to the nature of commercial development in the town over the last century. The area is at an ever-present risk of needing to respond to natural disasters caused by the eruptions of Mount Merapi. In 1994, for example, a

pyroclastic flow A pyroclastic flow (also known as a pyroclastic density current or a pyroclastic cloud) is a fast-moving current of hot gas and volcanic matter (collectively known as tephra) that flows along the ground away from a volcano at average speeds of b ...

from Mount Merapi killed over 20 people in the Muntilan area.

Notes

External links

{{coord, 7.58, S, 110.298, E, source:kolossus-nlwiki, display=title Magelang Regency Districts of Central Java