Museum of Central Java Ranggawarsita

The Museum of Central Java Ranggawarsita is the province’s flagship cultural and ethnographic museum with an impressive collection of cultural treasures, housed unfortunately in a building that is literally falling in upon them.

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We were shocked and saddened to see large sections of the ceiling crashed though display cases in some sections and dirt, grime and cobwebs everywhere as well as broken light fittings that made it impossible to view many exhibitions, an appalling state of affairs that the Department of Eduction and Culture, who administer the museum should be ashamed of.

Stories for life. Photo taken in or around Museum of Central Java Ranggawarsita, Semarang, Indonesia by Sally Arnold.

Stories for life. Photo: Sally Arnold

Despite the shameful conditions, the artefacts certainly hold interest and make it worth a visit, at least to fill a rainy day. The museum is named for Raden Ngabehi Ranggawarsita (1802–1873), a Javanese poet of the Surakarta Sultanate (Solo), and is located on a roundabout as you head into the city from the airport in a Javanese joglo-style building. The exhibitions are displayed in four interconnected double-storey buildings around a central courtyard that houses a collection of ancient stone sculptures. Most information is in Indonesian, but some exhibits are also labelled ... Travelfish members only (Full text is around 300 words.)

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