Taman Sari Palace, Water Palace Historical Site in Jogja

Yogyakarta or Jogja is known as the cultural heart of Indonesia as the city is full of cultural and historical sites. One of them is the Taman Sari or Water Palace located 500 meters south of the Kraton (Sultans palace). The Taman Sari has an unique architecture, a mix of Javanese and Portuguese style because the first Sultan Hamengkubuwono was helped by Portuguese architects when building it in the mid 18th century.

The first thing impresses us is the unique gateway of Taman Sari with beautiful stone crafts. Inside you will find two water-reservoirs. They were used to be the bathing place of princesses and the kings wives. The baths are decorated with dragon's heads fontains and flower pots around.

Near the Water Palace is an underground mosque. It is an unique place, not only for the location but also the path leading to this mosque. To get there, you need to go through long alleyways and stairs. Normally mosques are build in a square but this unique mosque is shaped round. There is a well at the centre of the mosque, named as Gumilang Well. This mosque was the Sultan's private prayer-place.

The Taman Sari or Water Palace is a must see when you are in Jogja because you will get a good impression of the time of the old kingdoms hundreds of years ago.