| Site Description | The site (MAHS-IDN-ACH-BNA-BTR-S-001) was formerly part of the palace grounds of the Aceh sultanate. Its was largely destroyed by an invading Dutch force in 1874. Four stone structures, however, remain standing to this day: The Gunongan, Kandang, Patarana Stone, and Pinto Khob. The Gunongan, Kandang, and Patarana Stone are all in very close proximity to one another, while the Pintu Khob is a little further away to the northeast, now separated from the site of the other three by a modern street. In the 17th century, however, all four structures were part of a landscaped area of the palace with a stream (Krueng Daroy) running through it. But the condition of the landscape has undergone many changes since then and is now incorporated into the modern construction of the city of Banda Aceh.
The building (MAHS-IND-ACH-BNA-S-001-F-0002) is a roughly square enclosure of thick, ornamented masonry walls measuring 21.65 meters in length, 21.5 meters wide, 3.4 meters high, and about 1.1 meter thick. The base of the outer wall, is decorated with (pucok reubong) motifs at each corner and under the pillar ornaments. Engaged columns extend from the foot to the top of the wall, ornamented with floral vine motifs (tumpal).The wall widens at the top to support 12 floral bud ornamental antefixes. At the top center of the east, north, and west sides there is an antefix which is wide in shape with curves decorated with floral vines.
The access to the inside is only from the gate on the south side. A 2.4 meter wide gate is connected by stairs going up to the inside. The ground level on the inside is about 1.37 meters higher than the ground level on the outside. The inside is an open area. In the middle, it has a square platform with sides 11 meters wide built on a stone and brick foundations. In the middle filling with leveled soil. Between the walls and the platform, there is a circular corridor with brickwork flooring. |
| Project Description | The Maritime Asia Heritage Survey works to systematically inventory and digitally document the endangered cultural heritage in the Maldives, Indonesia, and elswhere across the region. The materials documented through this work are critically endangered, facing both natural and human threats that jeopardize the survival and accessibility of historical information for this vital node in pre-modern global economic and religious networks at the cross-roads of an interconnected Indian Ocean world. The data made available here was collected by our Field Team using FARO Focus S350 Lidar scanner, Nikon D750 DSLR, and DJI Phantom 4 Pro drone, DJI Matrice 300RTK with ZenMuse L1 and P1 payloads. |