Sumbawa Besar
Sumbawa Besar is a city on the north coast of Sumbawa Island in Indonesia 's Nusa Tenggara Barat Province . With around 60,000 inhabitants, Sumbawa Besar is the second largest city on the island.
economy
Sumbawa Besar, the administrative center of the government district (Kabupaten) Sumbawa, is the center of a strongly agricultural and by Indonesian standards rather sparsely populated region. As in general on Sumbawa, tourism is only of minor importance.
transport
Sumbawa Besar is on a well-developed road that crosses the island of Sumbawa, on which there is no railroad, from west to east. In the meantime, official metered taxis are also operated in Sumbawa Besar. This makes it easy to drive to one of the few hotels in the area.
Bandar Udara Brangbiji Airport is located about two kilometers northwest of the city, from which the Indonesian airline Merpati Nusantara Airlines flew to the neighboring islands of Bali and Lombok until it declared bankruptcy in February 2014. The airport terminal was modernized in 2019 and the runway was significantly enlarged to enable the landing of larger passenger planes. It is now served up to three times a day by various airlines such as Garuda Indonesia , Lion Air and Air Asia .
The port of Poto Tano, from which ferries leave for Lombok, is 90 km west of Sumbawa Besar. The port of Sumbawa Besar itself is only of minor importance.
history
In the 17th century, Sumbawa Besar was the capital of a sultanate that was under the Kingdom of Gowa in what is now Makassar on South Sulawesi . At this time, Islam was also introduced on Sumbawa. Before that, the city and island were part of the Javanese kingdom of Majapahit from the 14th century , but remained relatively untouched by external influences for centuries due to the remote location and the great distance from Java .
architecture
One of the most striking buildings in the city is the wooden one in 1885 - not a single nail was used in its construction - and three-winged former palace Dalam Loka of Sultan Mohammad Jalaludin III, who ruled from 1883–1893, was built on 99 piles . In the 1980s, the dilapidated palace with its carvings was renovated by Japanese archaeologists. Today it is used for various cultural events. The largest mosque in the city was built next to the palace.
The Balai Kuning property, built in European half-timbered style in 1932, with its saddle roof visible from afar , temporarily housed the city administration; today it is primarily used for representative purposes. Weapons and clothing from the time of the Sultan are on display inside. On the north side of the building you can see the foundation stone with a Dutch inscription that commemorates the laying of the foundation stone on February 11, 1932. The building is surrounded by a well-tended park in which two restored cannons have been set up and in the enclosure for deer and horses. In the north of the park on Jalan Merdeka Street, a multi-storey gate tower has been preserved, under which the entrance to the property was originally located. From here - as can still be seen today - an avenue led to the representative main entrance of the building. The half-timbered style of the building, which is very unusual for Indonesia, can be seen under the white plaster.
Across from Balai Kuning, on Jalan Merdeka Street, Taman Krato Park was created with several avenues made of palm trees and hibiscus . Not far from there is the Seketeng market , the most important in the city. In the city center, the small, Balinese- style Hindu temple Pura Agung Giri Gnatha is worth a visit. In the northern part of the center rises on Jalan Diponegoro , one of the main thoroughfares of the city, the newly built Catholic Church Gereja Sang Penebus in 2009 . Next to it are the former church building, which is no longer in use, as well as the city's Catholic school. The Dutch Reformed Church (Gereja Masehi Injili di Timor) founded around 1900 forms a striking contrast to the numerous mosques in Sumbawa Besar with its church tower. The center of the city is the clock tower, which was built in the middle of a triangular square from which the three main shopping streets of Sumbawa Besars emanate.
The cityscape of Sumbawa Besar is loosened up by numerous small and well-kept green spaces, in the middle of which monuments have been erected. Sumbawa Besar is also known for the Universitas Samawa University , founded in 1998 , which was laid out in the west of the city across the Sungai Branj Biji River .
Surroundings
Known for its stilt houses and the production of traditional fabrics (Ikat), Poto is 12 km northeast of Sumbawa Besar.
The bay Pantai Kencana, 12 km northwest of the city, is a popular destination because of its pebble beach on which a Hindu temple was built.
In the coastal town of Batu Gong, 14 km from Sumbawa Besar, several caves on the beach are the destination of Hindu pilgrims, as Hindus sought refuge in them around 400 years ago in order to avoid the Islamization of Sumbawa. The sacrificial ceremonies customary in Hinduism still take place here today. The place got its name from the sound of the wind that is created on the beach and is reminiscent of the striking of a gong.
South of Sumbawa Besar is 450 m. ü. d. Batu Lereng, with its pleasant, constantly slightly windy climate, is known as the Sultan's bathing place. Here a natural swimming pool is formed by a river. Batu Lereng is not to be confused with a nearby place with a similar name: In Batu Tereng, the stalactite cave Liang Petang is worth a visit, in the vicinity of which another cave offers shelter for hundreds of bats. Not far from there, tombs and sarcophagi were discovered in Ai Renung , which may be around 2000 years old.
Also south of Sumbawa Besar, near the village of Semamung, a densely forested area that was once the Sultan's hunting ground, is the 50 m high Air Beling waterfall.
In front of Sumbawa Besar is the island of Moyo , which is known for its beaches and coral reefs. There is also an upscale hotel complex here, which can be reached by boat from Sumbawa Besar. The well-known, 2851 m high Tambora volcano rises around 40 km northeast of Sumbawa Besar.
The Batu Bulan dam was built in 1998-2003 with Japanese help and is used to irrigate 5576 hectares of land. The reservoir has a capacity of 54 million m³ and is also to be used for tourist purposes in the long term.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Stefan Loose: Indonesia , p. 428. Ostfildern 2013
- ↑ = Dorong kegiatan ekonomi Sumbawa, Bandara Sultan Muhammad Kaharuddin siap diresmikan. Retrieved February 19, 2020 (Indonesian).
- ↑ Anne Teffo: Indonésie , p 501. Boulogne-Billancourt 2013
- ↑ Anne Teffo: Indonésie , p 502. Boulogne-Billancourt 2013
- ↑ http://www.lonelyplanet.com/indonesia/nusa-tenggara/sumbawa-besar/sights
- ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from March 1, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Anne Teffo: Indonésie , p 503. Boulogne-Billancourt 2013
