Fort Rotterdam

Know the history of ancient times it was quite interesting and important to us. Moreover gained a lot of knowledge and this is one form of history that we must learn.

Fort Rotterdam

In Makassar there is one that stands majestic fortress, called Fort Rotterdam. Do not imagine the location of the fort is located far outside the city, and we had to spend so many hours to sit the car speed, because the location of the fort is located in Makassar making it fairly easy to achieve.

Fort with two square yard Fatahilah Museum is located in front of the Jakarta sea port city of Makassar or the middle of the city's central commercial center. If we stay in the area around the beach Losari, then the distance is within the range of a radius of 2 km's only. From the highway, Fort Rotterdam is also familiarly called the castle Ujung pandang (another name of Makassar) will be easily recognized because it is very striking with the 1600's era architecture that is different from the home and office in the vicinity. Solid black mossy walls towered almost as high as 5 feet, and the original entrance still like his prime. From this height, the shape of the castle as a form of turtle totem was about getting into the beach.

Entering the main door which is small, we will immediately ambushed by the feel of the past. The walls are thick very sturdy, wooden doors, old-fashioned latch, will be obvious. Entrance to the castle is actually free of charge, because the area inside the castle into a museum of cultural heritage is not that empty. Fort Rotterdam used as government offices namely Makassar Cultural Center, so the usual spooky atmosphere we find the location of such parents is not so thick as they encountered humans milling to and fro. Because the area is used as an office, so the cleanliness and tidiness of the environment there is quite well preserved.

This fort was originally built in 1545 by the king of Gowa to X ie Tunipallangga Ulaweng. Initial raw material is stone wall fortress mixed with baked clay to dry. The building inside is filled by a typical stage Gowa house where the king and the family settled in it. When moving in the king of Gowa XIV, the walls and then replaced with rock hard black Padas.

The presence of the Dutch who controlled the area around the banda and embarrassment, necessarily make the Dutch decided to conquer the commercial fleet VOC Gowa that can easily get in and docked here. Since the year 1666 came the first war between the ruling king of Gowa in the fort by the Dutch authorities Speelman. A year battered by the Dutch fort aided by troops from Maluku leased, until finally there Gowa royal power over. The whole fortress shattered, burned the king's house destroyed by the troops inside enemy. This defeat made ​​the Dutch forced the king to sign the "agreement Bongaya" on November 18, 1667. Later Speelman decided to settle there by rebuilding and managing buildings there to be tailored to the needs of the Dutch architectural tastes. Initial form-like rectangular box surrounded by five bastions, one additional turn get another bastion on the west side. Name also is converted Fort Rotterdam, the birthplace of Gen. Gub Netherlands Cornelis Speelman.

One of the famous tourist attraction here than to see the castle, was to visit the detention narrow Diponegoro when discarded by the Dutch from Java caught on the ground. Diponegoro which raged between the years 1825-1830 ended with him trapped Prince Diponegoro by the Netherlands while attending peace talks. Diponegoro was arrested and exiled to Manado, then in 1834 he was transferred to Fort Rotterdam. He single-handedly placed in a jail cell is walled curved and very sturdy. In the room she reserved a room empty of life and its complementary equipment such as prayer, Quran, and bed. Many then believed that Diponegoro died in Makassar, and was buried there too. But there is another opinion said the body was not in Makassar Diponegoro. Once he died Dutch move it to the place a secret so as not to trigger a burst of fanatical followers among Java or there.