Mangkunegaran Palace

Mangkunegaran Palace was built by Raden Mas Said as Pangeran Sambernyawa. It was built right after the assignment of the Agreement of Salatiga, March 13^th, 1757. Raden Mas Said was then crowned as Pangeran Mangkunegara I.

The Mangkunegaran Palace is divided into two main building, named pendhapa and dalem. The most interesting thing from the Palace is that it is made of whole teak wood.

Pendhapa is a Joglo building supported by four main pillars. It is used to held the ceremonies and to perform traditional Javanese dance. There is a set of gamelan or traditional music instrument, called Kyai Kanyut Mesem to be played only to accompany traditional dance held on certain occasions.

There is a room called Pringgitan in Dalem building. It is a place where the royal family receives special companies like functionaries. Leather puppet sometimes is also performed in Pringgitan. There are some paintings by Basuki Abdullah, a famous artist from Solo, exposed to decorate Dalem Pringgitan.

Some collection of the ancestor treasures that have aesthetic and historical values are also kept in it. There are a collection of traditional mask gathered from many places in Indonesia, ancient literature from Majapahit and Mataram periods, golden ornament, and some portraits of Mangkunegara Princess.

The Palace of Mangkunegaran also has a library called Reksa Pustaka.

Pura Mangkunegaran is open for public:

- Everyday : 09.00 – 14.00

- Friday : 09.00 – 12.00

- Sunday : 09.00 – 14.00

Solo Culinary Destination

Solo as a city of culture, tourism and trading, is one of tourism destinations in Central Java that cannot be missed. There have been many tourists come to Solo. Among the tourism objects in Solo, culinary is one of appeals that has a power to attract the tourists. Solo, they so called Sleepless City, invites you to enjoy various traditional foods which are offered in unique style. Every where in any corner in this town, you are greeted with any kind of foods.

Let’s begin the culinary challenge in Solo.

Nasi Liwet

Nasi liwet is the most famous Solo traditional food. Made of rice which has been cooked with chicken broth. The rice is piquant and delicious. It is completed by spicy squash soup, boiled egg, chicken and kumut (made of thickened coconut milk). The rice is, then, served on banana leaves.

Tahu Kupat

Tahu Kupat contains of ketupat (rice cooked in woven young coconut leaves), noodles, bean sprouts, fried tofu and sliced bakwan (fried flour with mixed eggs) and fried peanuts.

It is served with thick sweet Soya with garlic taste. Sometimes an omelet is added as complement.

Cabuk Rambak

The food that has ketupat as its main food is very typical in Solo. Ketupat is rice cooked in woven young coconut leaves. It is completed with cabuk rambak or sauce made of sesame seed cooked in spicy coconut milk. Karak (fried snack made of rice) is served accompany the menu.

Timlo

Timlo is special dish contains of: cooked sliced carrot, fried sliced potatoes, chicken meat chopped into pieces, cooked egg and chicken’s liver in clear soup. Served to accompany fried onion topping rice. Unlike the typical Timlo in other local town, Timlo Solo is served without mushroom and thin noodles.

Pecel Ndesa

Pecel Ndesa is served with red rice, it contains of vegetables like heart shaped edible spadix of banana blossom, kenikir, petai cina leaves, long beans, turi’s flower and white/black sesame seed sauce. It is accompanied by fried eel and fish, fried egg, special sauce from Solo, bongko (red beans and coconut), gembrot (coconut and sembukan leaves), cow’s brain and intestines.

Bakmi Toprak

The name of the food is similar with one found in Jakarta, Ketoprak Jakarta, but unlike Ketoprak Jakarta, Ketoprak Solo is served in clear soup with noodles, slices cabbage, fried tofu, eggs, fried soy beans and sausage in it. The soup is made of cow’s broth. To complete the dish, sliced cow’s meat, fried onions, celery and karak are usually added.

Sambel Tumpang

Nasi Sambel Tumpang contains of rice accompanied by thick soup with is made of pounded tempe semangit mixed with coconut milk. There are vegetables like peanut, bean sprouts and long beans to complete the tumpang soup. Usually there are also tofu, egg and krecek (cracker made of cow’s skin) added to mix tumpang more delicious. Porridge is sometimes served with tumpang instead of rice. It is called tumpang porridge.

Gudeg Ceker

Ceker (chicken feet) is served as gudeg side dish. The chicken feet are boiled by coconut milk until they become soft and delicious. Ceker can also be served as porridge side dish. This menu will be tastier when sambel goreng krecek is poured on the porridge.

Sate Kere

The special sate is made of tempe gembus (tempe with is made of soy deposit in making tofu). Together with sate kere, there are also sate made of cow’s bowels. Before roasted, sate kere and other sate are dipped in the spice dough first. When they are done spice soy sauce is added before sate kere is served.

Sate Buntel

Sate Buntel is special sate from Solo. It is made of goat chopped meat with has been spiced by onion and pepper before wrapped it with in goat fat. It is enjoyed together with soy sauce, sliced red pepper, red onion, cabbage and tomatoes. Along side with this menu are sate kikil and gule sumsum (marrow curry).

Thengkleng

The typical goat curry dish served without coconut milk. It contains of goat’s bone with still a little goat’s meat on the bones. Served to accompany this menu are goat’s bowels made into sate and other goat’s part of body like eyes, chick bones, ears, legs, etc. To enjoy thengkleng we can chew bit by bit the meat with is still on the bones and suck the marrow slowly.

Gule Goreng

Another way to enjoy goat curry is to have gule goreng (fried curry). This kind of curry is cooked on anglo (traditional stove with charcoals as its fuel) until the coconut milk dry. The process enables the made to become more soft and creates a unique taste.

Wedang Donga

This kind of beverage has ginger aroma. Like wedang ronde, wedang donga contains of glutinous rice balls with peanut crushed filled and kolang-kaling (fruit of palmtree). The contents are served together with sweet ginger beverage.

Gempol Plered

It is made of rice flour formed into small ball with the diameter of + 1.5cm. The rice balls than are put into light coconut milk. The grater of palm sugar is added to sweeten gempol plered.

Serabi

Serabi Solo is different with common serabi found in other local towns. It is not served with sweet syrup made of coconut milk and palm sugar, serabi solo is sweet already. It is made of rice flour, sugar, and coconut milk. The shape is round like a plate with crunchy crust around it. Serabi Solo has chocolate sliced jackfruit or banana to flavor the taste.

Intip

Intip is rice crust which has been dried under the sun and fried into hot oil. As the food done, it can be sprinkled by salt or coated by melted palm sugar. Intip tastes delicious because of the kernel of the rice which gathers at the bottom of the cooking pot.

Wedangan

Wedangan is one many places where people can enjoy the night culinary as well as socialized with others in a relax atmosphere. Served on the carriages, many kind of food like nasi bungkus (rice wrapped in food wrapper) and the side dishes. The visitors can get the food by themselves. Sipping tea or wedang jahe (ginger drink), the visitors are mingling with each other. There is something unique in wedangan. Ther trust is built between the seller and the visitors by itself. The visitors may get the food by themselves and just tell the seller the food they have taken. The seller will count the price without checking the detail.

Introduction

Solo has been and will probably always be known as the City of Culture. The city is of humble origin. It was a small village on the muddy banks of the Bengawan, but industrious too because of centuries of intensive trading along the river. It was selected to become the new seat of royal administration of the Mataram Sultanate in 1745, after a revolt had ruined the former court, or Keraton, of Mataram’s ruler, Susuhunan Paku Buwana II at Kartasura.

A splendid new Keraton was built at this village, and in February 1745 Susuhunan Paku Buwana II, with all his relatives, supporters and dependents moved there, in a long an impressive procession. The new center of power was subsequently named Surakarta Hadiningrat, but by most of its present-day inhabitants (and visitors) the busting city that has developed around the court is usually called Solo.

Not long after the new court was installed another revolt broke out, which rather dramatically resulted in a division of the realm (in 1755), while Mataram’s northern part remained under Susuhunan Paku Buwana II, its southern part haw handed over to his rebellious uncle, Sultan Hamengku Buwana I, who subsequently established his court at Ngayogyakarta Hadiningrat.

The peace twenty regulating this division of power is known as Perjanjian Giyanti (Treaty of Giyanti). The fight for power in Mataram, however, hadn’t finished yet. A third period of violence broke out that lasted several years, in which a rebellious young prince, Pangeran Sambernyawa, disputed the reign of the court in Solo as well as the one in Yogya. Peace in the region was finally achieved in 1757, but at a cost: yet another part of the once glorious Mataram realm was handed over to prince Sambernyawa, who, as Mangkunegara I, built his seats of power in the northern part of Solo.

From then on a relatively peaceful period set in, with space and opportunities for the courts as well as the cities developing around then to expand further. Perhaps more importantly a period of cultural renaissance took place of unknown proportions, resulting in the development of a highly refined court culture and great sophistication.

Those wayang (traditional forms of puppetry) and gamelan (classical music) became more fully embellished, developing into cultural forms that until this day are highly valued, studied and performed. Other examples of outstanding artistic traditions are keris (traditional dagger) and batik, the ‘fabled cloth’ that is worn by kings and commoners alike. Completing the rich palet of Solo’s ‘intangible’ cultural heritage are various regular procession, religious as well as secular ones, music and dance performances, rituals, and art festivals.

The city has always remained faithful to its trading activities, resulting in the establishment of several markets and the building of an elegant colonial structure, as for instance Pasar Gedhe (main market). Not only colonialism, immigration too has made its marks. Many fine examples of colonial, Islamic, Chinese and mixed Javanese-European building style can be seen around the city.

Solo is one of the Indonesian cities from the early 20^th century laid out according to a modern city-plan: there is al railway line going straight through its center, with a shady, spacious boulevard (now Jalan Slamet Riyadi) alongside it. There are several city parts and other public spaces, and a number of modern infrastructure, such as train stations, bridges, dams, canals, – the latter to face the yearly hazards or Bengawan’s flooding.

The city accommodates various ethnic and social groups, some of which used to live together in typical, distinct areas. These include the Chinese neighborhoods, such as around Pasar Gedhe and Kampung Balong, Kauman, Kemlayan and Laweyan, the latter being an influential center of batik-production with a very attractive and artful architecture throughout its surroundings.

The pinnacle of Javanese culture, on other hand, is found in and around the courts. A distinct area surrounding the Keraton, known as Baluwarti, houses many fine examples of Javanese architecture, there is of course the Keraton itself, and, north of the railway line dissecting the city the magnificently built Mangkunegaran.

The multi-layered history of the city has resulted in mixed architectural styles that combine Islamic, Chinese, European and indigenous Javanese elements, it has also given rise to its sobriquet, or nickname ‘City of Culture’. It distinct historic and cultural background was officially recognized when it was selected as the first and so far only Indonesian city to become a member of the Organization of World Heritage Cities’ – in the Euro-Asian Regional.

Keris, batik, wayang and gamelan are each examples of works or art that have developed as a result of the efforts of many generations of master craftsmen and women, and long processes of creation. To establish their final form it took time, expertise, and precision as well as the development of (local) technologies and individual artist’s skills.