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Completed
in 1627, the building initially served as the Dutch East Indies Company's Town Hall'
Additions and renovations including a stone gate, offices and renovations were added
between 1705 and 1715. The well-known Indonesia hero,Diponegoro, was said to have been
imprisoned its dungeon before his exile to South Sulawesi.
The building was being used as military barracks and offices when the Jakarta City
Administration decided in the early 1970 s to make it the focus of a restoration plan of
old Batavia. Now a museum' it provides the historical background of Jakarta through
displays of old maps and antiques including furniture and porcelain used by the Dutch
rulers of Batavia, as well as a 16th century Portuguese cannon which stands just across
the cobblestone square.
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