Taman Sari Water Castle

Taman Sari means beautiful park. It is about ten minutes walk from the Sultan's Palace south-west ward. Sultan Hamengku Buwono 1 in 1757 built this park. He created a new style that was a combination and a mixture of javanese and Portuguese architcture. Taman Sari was once beautiful and sophisticated water-park. The area around the park eastward to the city quarters called "Kampung Segaran" was once full of water. This place is now called Suryoputran. Segaran is Javanese word means a man-made ocean or an artificial sea. Every time the Sultan visited the park, he went there by rowing a private canoe through the suspension bridge called "Kreteg Gantung" which lay in front of the Palace gate, southward or northward of Kemandungan. The remained building that was once connected by the suspension bridge can still be seen nowdays. Beside water, there was also an underground passage or alley the Sultan Palace leading to one of the park buildings which is called Pasarean Ledok Sari. The castle once has a place for relaxation and entertainment as well, a uniqe mechanism of defence.