What To See at Lawang Sewu
Dutch Architectural Building
The main attraction that is able to attract visitors to visit Lawang Sewu is an ancient building built in the Dutch era and used as the headquarters of the Dutch-owned railway company or the Nederlandsch Indishe Spoorweg Naatschappij (NIS) designed by a Dutch architect named Cosman Citroen. As the name suggests, the characteristic of Lawang Sewu that distinguishes it from other ancient Dutch buildings is that it has many doors and windows. Every corner of this building will spoil your eyes with its beauty.
Indonesian Railroad History Gallery
This gallery contains historic photos of the old Indonesian railways, almost all of the photos are still black and white. The photos on display are in the form of photos of trains that were transporting goods, railroad tracks, the process of building railroad tracks and much more. In addition, there are also ancient train miniatures that are displayed on the walls and office equipments such as Lawang Sewu employee uniforms and old typewriters displayed in the corner of the room.
Lawang Sewu Revitalizing Gallery
This gallery contains photographs of Lawang Sewu development and revitalization process, its architectural design blueprint, and articles or books that contain writings on Lawang Sewu.
Ancient Train Video Display
The video shown is a video that explains parts of ancient trains with a media display in the form of black glass shaped like a pyramid so that it can be seen from 4 different sides.
Stained Glass a.k.a Kaca Patri
One of the spots in Lawang Sewu that interests most visitors, namely Kaca Patri (stained glass) by an artist named Johannes Louresa Schouten. Its beauty has many meanings implied. One of them is the left stained glass which symbolizes prosperity and natural beauty of the land of Java. There is also a story about the rich flora and fauna as well as the fusion of western and eastern cultural arts.
(Agatha Tiara via instagram.com, translated by Desy Pentalibertin)
Ancient Locomotive Display
When visiting Lawang Sewu, tourist can see an ancient locomotive with the C 23 series which used teak or coal as fuel. The ancient locomotive located near the exit lane is also a favorite place for tourists to take pictures, especially children. The black and red locomotive was installed complete with railroad tracks.
(Hanang Yuwono via tribunsolo.com, translated by Desy Pentalibertin)
