Kraton of Surakarta

The Keraton Surakarta Hadiningrat, or Keraton Surakarta (Javanese: ꦏꦣꦠꦺꦴꦤ꧀ꦱꦸꦫꦏꦂꦠꦲꦣꦶꦤꦶꦔꦿꦠ꧀, transliterated Kadhaton Surakarta Hadiningrat), is a palace belonging to the Kingdom of the Susuhunanate of Surakarta Hadiningrat (Kagungan Dalem), located in the city of Surakarta. The keraton was founded by Sri Susuhunan Pakubuwana II around 1743–1744, to replace the Keraton of Kartasura, which had been devastated by the Chinese Massacre (Geger Pecinan) of 1743. The architecture and layout of the Surakarta Keraton bear a resemblance to the Yogyakarta Keraton Hadiningrat, which was built afterwards and is the palace of the Sultanate of Yogyakarta.

Traditionally, the Mataram Sultanate was continued by two kingdoms, the Susuhunanate of Surakarta and the Sultanate of Yogyakarta. The total area of the Surakarta Keraton reaches 157 hectares, covering the entire area within the Baluwarti fortress, the Alun-Alun Lor, the Alun-Alun Kidul, the Gapura Gladag, and the complex of the Surakarta Grand Mosque. The core area of the keraton itself covers 15 hectares.

After the Susuhunanate of Surakarta officially became part of the Republic of Indonesia in 1945, the keraton complex still functions as the residence of the Sri Susuhunan (Sunan) and his palace household, which still carries on the traditions of the susuhunanate to this day. The Surakarta Keraton is now also one of the main tourist attractions in the city of Surakarta.

Part of the keraton complex is open to the general public, and inside it there is also a museum holding various collections belonging to the susuhunanate, such as objects given as gifts by European monarchs, replicas of the keraton's heirlooms, and gamelan instruments. In terms of its buildings, the Surakarta Keraton is one of the finest examples of Javanese palace architecture, with lavish halls and spacious courtyards and pavilions.

Machine-translated from “Keraton Surakarta Hadiningrat” on the Indonesian Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Kraton of Surakarta ranks #3,685 of 8,764 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #16 of the 44 mapped in Indonesia. Founded 1746, it is older than 19% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 638 atlas entries founded in the 18th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 6,691 times in the last 60 days, more than 89% of the atlas. 1 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. See how Indonesia compares in the castle statistics.

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