The Independence Weekend Trip continues, onto Day 3! If the previous day we were bathed in art, today we will soak ourselves with history as Agung and I visited De Tjolomadoe, a sugar factory-turned-museum on the outskirts of Surakarta. It was actually Agung’s idea to visit this place—I wouldn’t even have known about it otherwise. We are such nerds when it comes to art, history and culture, so we were both very excited to visit the place. The trip only took less than 30 minutes by motorbike—which was undoubtedly already so far away for Solo, although it would have been perfectly standard for Jakarta.
We started the day pretty early to hit Pasar Gede, the famous traditional market of Solo. It’s crazy how we always woke up early during this trip! Normally, we would sleep in. Then again, this was the chance to explore as much as we could and starting early is key. We went to Pasar Gede to have Nasi Liwet for breakfast and looked up the local mocktails (Dawet Telasih and Gempol Pleret) and cakes (a collective of little cakes called Lenjongan). Full and satisfied, we were headed for De Tjolomadoe.
The Independence Weekend Trip continues, onto Day 3! If the previous day we were bathed in art, today we will soak ourselves with history as Agung and I visited De Tjolomadoe, a sugar factory-turned-museum on the outskirts of Surakarta. It was actually Agung’s idea to visit this place—I wouldn’t even have known about it otherwise. We are such nerds when it comes to art, history and culture, so we were both very excited to visit the place. The trip only took less than 30 minutes by motorbike—which was undoubtedly already so far away for Solo, although it would have been perfectly standard for Jakarta.
We started the day pretty early to hit Pasar Gede, the famous traditional market of Solo. It’s crazy how we always woke up early during this trip! Normally, we would sleep in. Then again, this was the chance to explore as much as we could and starting early is key. We went to Pasar Gede to have Nasi Liwet for breakfast and looked up the local mocktails (Dawet Telasih and Gempol Pleret) and cakes (a collective of little cakes called Lenjongan). Full and satisfied, we were headed for De Tjolomadoe.
The Mountain of Honey
As we arrived at De Tjolomadoe’s premises, two things crossed our minds:
1. “Oh wow, this place is huge!”
2. “Where is everyone?”
Seriously, we arrived there at around 11.30 or so, but we seemed to be the first visitors to the museum. It wasn’t until a little while later when people started trickling in and they were mostly from Jakarta. The factory complex is divided mainly into three huge buildings, with smaller buildings scattered throughout—including a coffee shop and the cute ticket booth. What delighted me most was the vast blue sky over the whole area. Who knew that Solo’s sky is so blue? So blue compared to Jakarta anyway. So glad we came at just the perfect weather too.
De Tjolomadoe itself used to be a sugar factory built in 1861. It started out as a small sugar cane plantation and was extracted mainly manually. In 1928, massive machines started to get installed at the factory, allowing for more efficient processing of the sugar cane into granulated sugar that can be sold in stores. Its ownership moved from one hand to another, although after Independence Day it belonged to the Mangkunegaran Sultanate—to this day.
With a name like Tjolomadoe, which means ‘mountain of honey/sweets’ in Javanese, the factory has seen a steady rise in success until the late 20th century. However, it operated for the last time in 1997 before it was shut down forever. It wasn’t until 2017 that it was revitalised to become a museum.
As we arrived at De Tjolomadoe’s premises, two things crossed our minds:
1. “Oh wow, this place is huge!”
2. “Where is everyone?”
Seriously, we arrived there at around 11.30 or so, but we seemed to be the first visitors to the museum. It wasn’t until a little while later when people started trickling in and they were mostly from Jakarta. The factory complex is divided mainly into three huge buildings, with smaller buildings scattered throughout—including a coffee shop and the cute ticket booth. What delighted me most was the vast blue sky over the whole area. Who knew that Solo’s sky is so blue? So blue compared to Jakarta anyway. So glad we came at just the perfect weather too.
De Tjolomadoe itself used to be a sugar factory built in 1861. It started out as a small sugar cane plantation and was extracted mainly manually. In 1928, massive machines started to get installed at the factory, allowing for more efficient processing of the sugar cane into granulated sugar that can be sold in stores. Its ownership moved from one hand to another, although after Independence Day it belonged to the Mangkunegaran Sultanate—to this day.
With a name like Tjolomadoe, which means ‘mountain of honey/sweets’ in Javanese, the factory has seen a steady rise in success until the late 20th century. However, it operated for the last time in 1997 before it was shut down forever. It wasn’t until 2017 that it was revitalised to become a museum.
A year after its revitalisation, in 2018, the museum was finally open for public. Today the area not only houses a museum, but can also be used as a venue various events—from wedding, concerts to corporate events, you name it! As a museum itself, the place is actually pretty static. Not a lot of events or activities going on here for visitors to try their hands on. Thankfully, the place actually has a very interesting architecture—using a geometric, art deco style with its typical steel frame structures—so most people come here for the photo op. Not going to lie, it’s a pretty cool backdrop to have.
Hand-me-down batik dress (worn as shirt) // thrifted pants // rattan purse from the antique market //
Dr. Martens vegan boots // photos of me by Agung
A year after its revitalisation, in 2018, the museum was finally open for public. Today the area not only houses a museum, but can also be used as a venue various events—from wedding, concerts to corporate events, you name it! As a museum itself, the place is actually pretty static. Not a lot of events or activities going on here for visitors to try their hands on. Thankfully, the place actually has a very interesting architecture—using a geometric, art deco style with its typical steel frame structures—so most people come here for the photo op. Not going to lie, it’s a pretty cool backdrop to have.
Hand-me-down batik dress (worn as shirt) // thrifted pants // rattan purse from the antique market //
Dr. Martens vegan boots // photos of me by Agung
Around the Factory
Then there’s the best part: the modern museum. This is the area where visitors get to learn about the history of De Tjolomadoe from its first establishment in 1861 all the way to what we know today. It is set up in such a state-of-the-art way that I felt like I was in a museum abroad. There were all sorts of infographics and interactive programs so beautifully curated and displayed.
Not only do we get to learn about the history of the factory, but also various information about sugar and sugar cane in general. We get to know where else in Indonesia could sugar factories be found—although I don’t think any of them have been preserved and turned into a museum like De Tjolomadoe. We also get to know a little about sugar cane as a crop.
In fact, there were three interesting installations within the museum, created in collaboration with local artists, such as Tempa who we met at Artjog before. It was so fun and beautiful!
The building was actually divided into three main areas: the factory area, the modern museum and the multifunctional halls.
The factory building itself is divided into 4 stations, each of which encompasses the different stage of the sugar extracting process when the factory was still active. All the machinery is still pretty much intact, although most of them have been painted grey—much to our dismay, as they look a lot less authentic and machine-like. Visitors can walk around the building to check out the various machines and what they do.
There are also two multifunctional halls, both of which can be used for any event. They actually used to also be stations for processing sugar, but since the restoration as been revamped to be a cool auditorium and spacious event venue. You can see how they used to look and how they look now through photos in the factory area.
Then there’s the best part: the modern museum. This is the area where visitors get to learn about the history of De Tjolomadoe from its first establishment in 1861 all the way to what we know today. It is set up in such a state-of-the-art way that I felt like I was in a museum abroad. There were all sorts of infographics and interactive programs so beautifully curated and displayed.
Not only do we get to learn about the history of the factory, but also various information about sugar and sugar cane in general. We get to know where else in Indonesia could sugar factories be found—although I don’t think any of them have been preserved and turned into a museum like De Tjolomadoe. We also get to know a little about sugar cane as a crop.
In fact, there were three interesting installations within the museum, created in collaboration with local artists, such as Tempa who we met at Artjog before. It was so fun and beautiful!
The building was actually divided into three main areas: the factory area, the modern museum and the multifunctional halls.
The factory building itself is divided into 4 stations, each of which encompasses the different stage of the sugar extracting process when the factory was still active. All the machinery is still pretty much intact, although most of them have been painted grey—much to our dismay, as they look a lot less authentic and machine-like. Visitors can walk around the building to check out the various machines and what they do.
There are also two multifunctional halls, both of which can be used for any event. They actually used to also be stations for processing sugar, but since the restoration as been revamped to be a cool auditorium and spacious event venue. You can see how they used to look and how they look now through photos in the factory area.
Stepping Back in Time
Although there probably weren’t too many things to see here, I somehow felt a liking to De Tjolomadoe a lot. First of all, there’s the gorgeous architecture that takes its geometric simplicity from the art deco style, although started to lean towards Bauhaus around this time as well with its practicality—I’m guessing the building was erected in 1928.
For the most part, the place was actually very empty. Maybe back in its golden days, there were more machines, contraptions and people here. But, having been abandoned for 10 years, the machines had started to rust and get severely damaged here and there—unfit for display. We can see this on the little patch of the original tiles preserved for comparison.
There are a lot of areas, too, that I felt could have been better utilised to attract more visitors. Stasiun Ketelan (Kettling Station), for example. It is now basically one vast area with nothing in it, but for a huge wall full of holes—I suppose this is the contraption that heats up the sugar cane extractions somewhere in the process.
Of course, next to this wall we can see a food court that is no longer in use—possibly closed down during the pandemic—so the place might have been livelier when it was still open. Still, I feel like they could’ve added more information on the museum here or some interesting installation to attract the crowd.
Although there probably weren’t too many things to see here, I somehow felt a liking to De Tjolomadoe a lot. First of all, there’s the gorgeous architecture that takes its geometric simplicity from the art deco style, although started to lean towards Bauhaus around this time as well with its practicality—I’m guessing the building was erected in 1928.
For the most part, the place was actually very empty. Maybe back in its golden days, there were more machines, contraptions and people here. But, having been abandoned for 10 years, the machines had started to rust and get severely damaged here and there—unfit for display. We can see this on the little patch of the original tiles preserved for comparison.
There are a lot of areas, too, that I felt could have been better utilised to attract more visitors. Stasiun Ketelan (Kettling Station), for example. It is now basically one vast area with nothing in it, but for a huge wall full of holes—I suppose this is the contraption that heats up the sugar cane extractions somewhere in the process.
Of course, next to this wall we can see a food court that is no longer in use—possibly closed down during the pandemic—so the place might have been livelier when it was still open. Still, I feel like they could’ve added more information on the museum here or some interesting installation to attract the crowd.
I love history. I love exploring historical places, especially ones this massive—both physically and emotionally. There’s just something really special about visiting historical sites like this that just hits different. I know, this used to be a factory—a place of commerce owned by the palace—so it may not be as emotionally meaningful. But, still, this is used to be the place where people came together and worked to achieve something as a community. They must have shared some memories together, the good, the bad and the ugly—so much so, in fact, that they develop their own subculture and traditions.
How fitting that, after visiting the museum, we went back downtown only to be greeted by a street art performance—also known as reog—that attracts the locals, followed by an Independence Weekend Parade and street carnival. We got to see firsthand the wholesome nature the people of Solo—how much they appreciate their own culture, people and environment. Without needing other incentive, they flock together for the sake of gathering and showing their support as well as their appreciation for artists, for the people and for the city.
The parade, by the way, caused such heavy traffic and re-routing. No doubt it was not ideal, yet nobody said a single word of protest about it. That’s how wholesome Solo is. That’s why I’m yearning to move there.
For more detailed accounts of this trip, feel free to check out my travel journal!
I love history. I love exploring historical places, especially ones this massive—both physically and emotionally. There’s just something really special about visiting historical sites like this that just hits different. I know, this used to be a factory—a place of commerce owned by the palace—so it may not be as emotionally meaningful. But, still, this is used to be the place where people came together and worked to achieve something as a community. They must have shared some memories together, the good, the bad and the ugly—so much so, in fact, that they develop their own subculture and traditions.
How fitting that, after visiting the museum, we went back downtown only to be greeted by a street art performance—also known as reog—that attracts the locals, followed by an Independence Weekend Parade and street carnival. We got to see firsthand the wholesome nature the people of Solo—how much they appreciate their own culture, people and environment. Without needing other incentive, they flock together for the sake of gathering and showing their support as well as their appreciation for artists, for the people and for the city.
The parade, by the way, caused such heavy traffic and re-routing. No doubt it was not ideal, yet nobody said a single word of protest about it. That’s how wholesome Solo is. That’s why I’m yearning to move there.
For more detailed accounts of this trip, feel free to check out my travel journal!