Istiqlal Mosque and Jakarta Cathedral

The Largest Mosque In South East Asia, Built Facing A Catholic Cathedral On Sukarno'S Instruction, Designed By A Christian Architect, And Since 2021 Joined To It By A Pedestrian Tunnel · Jakarta, Jakarta

ISTIQLAL IS THE LARGEST MOSQUE IN SOUTH EAST ASIA and the name means independence. Three things about it are deliberate and are the reason to come. IT FACES JAKARTA CATHEDRAL ACROSS THE ROAD - Sukarno sited it there on purpose, a Catholic neo-gothic cathedral and the national mosque looking at each other. THE COMPETITION TO DESIGN IT WAS WON BY FREDERICH SILABAN, A CHRISTIAN BATAK, and Sukarno chose him. AND THE TWO CONGREGATIONS LEND EACH OTHER THEIR CAR PARKS on each other's holy days - Christians park at the mosque at Christmas, Muslims at the cathedral for Eid - which has gone on for years without anyone making a programme of it. IN 2021 A PEDESTRIAN TUNNEL WAS OPENED BETWEEN THEM, called the Tunnel of Silaturahmi. In a country that argues constantly about pluralism, this is the argument's best exhibit - two buildings that have been quietly getting on with it since 1978, across a road, in the middle of the capital.

Sawah Besar, Central Jakarta, Special Capital Region of Jakarta, Jakarta, Jakarta, Indonesia

ISTIQLAL WELCOMES NON-MUSLIM VISITORS OUTSIDE PRAYER TIMES, generally through a designated visitor entrance where ROBES ARE LENT AND A GUIDE IS PROVIDED - there is no charge and a donation is appropriate. FRIDAY MIDDAY IS CLOSED TO VISITORS, as are the periods around each of the five daily prayers, and the mosque is extremely busy during RAMADAN and at EID. JAKARTA CATHEDRAL keeps its own hours and asks that visitors avoid Mass times; it has a small museum upstairs. THE TUNNEL BETWEEN THEM opened in 2021 and its public access hours are not consistently published. THE NATIONAL MONUMENT AND THE NATIONAL MUSEUM are a short walk away across Merdeka Square. Both buildings are on the Jakarta MRT and TransJakarta networks, which is far better than driving.

Istiqlal Mosque and Jakarta Cathedral on Spottos · Explore more places on Spottos