Transition Phase: Into the City Fortress
- Museum Kota Lama
- Oct 12, 2023
- 1 min read
"The City Fortress was demolished by the Dutch Government to develop Semarang as a modern city."
In 1824, the City Fortress was demolished by the Dutch Government to develop Semarang as a modern city. This was carried out by opening a railway network, villas on Jalan Bojong and Jalan Randusari, and the construction of new roads as well as opening a harbour canal called Kali Baru so that small ships could dock at the Berok Bridge. Furthermore, the Dutch government built the Prins van Oranje fort in West Semarang. This fort is also called "Benteng Pendem" as half of the building is below ground level.
The fort surrounding the Kota Lama was a development of the de Vijfhoek van Samarangh fort, which was already depicted on a map in 1695. The city fortress has several components and structures, such as three large gates or ports, two small gates or ports, six bastions, and the remaining parts of the canal around the city fort as well as the road network within the city fort.
Three large gates or ports are:
de Wester gate/ port (west gate) or Gouvernementspoort
de Zuider gate/ port (south gate)
de Ooster gate/ port (east gate)
Two small gates or ports are:
Gate/ port to the east of Bastion de Zee (gate from the sea)
Gate/ port to the north of the triangular square/ Artileriplein (north gate)
Six bastions are:
Bastion de Herstellers
Bastion Ceylon
Bastion Amsterdam
Bastion de Ijerz
Bastion de Smits
Bastion de Zee
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