VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Semarang is the capital city of Central Java. This city is the fifth biggest city in Indonesia after Jakarta, Surabaya, Medan, and Bandung. It has a lot of tourism destinations, beginning from natural, religious and historical tourism objects. One of Semarang historical tourism objects which is well known is Lawang Sewu which was built in the Dutch colonial.

Lawang Sewu was built on February 27, 1904 as head office of NIS, one of train’s companies in the Dutch East Indies. The building has high and wide windows, like a door so that local people call it “Lawang Sewu” meaning “a thousand of doors”.

Although the building is named Lawang Sewu, in fact the building has only 429 doors. For a long time, the building was not managed. But finally, Lawang Sewu in late June 2011 was renovated and reopened for public use on July 5, 2011.

Because the building was built as the head office of NIS, the history of Lawang Sewu cannot be separated from the railway in Indonesia. After the independence of Indonesia, the building is used as the railway office of Indonesia or now PT Kereta Api Indonesia. Besides, it was used as Office of Infrastructure of Regional Military Command and Regional Office of Ministry of Transportation in Central Java.

Meanwhile, during the struggling period, the building became a silent witness of the 5-day battle in Semarang. Thus, the city’s government of Semarang in 1992 entered Lawang Sewu as one of 102 historical buildings in Semarang which should be protected.

Lawang Sewu is located at Tugu Muda complex, Jalan Pemuda, Central Semarang, Semarang, Central Java, precisely at the center of Semarang city. So, the access to this tourism object is easy. Lawang Sewu is open every day, starting from 6.00 AM until 09.00 PM local time.

The entrance ticket is Rp. 10,000 for adults, Rp. 5,000 for students and kids. If you want to enter the basement, you will be charged Rp. 30,000/person and for the tourist guide is Rp. 30,000.