Besieged amid a towering business center on Jalan Gajah Mada in West Jakarta, what is left of Candra Naya mansion still emanates its old charm, evoking a nostalgic mood among visitors. The former mansion of a Chinese mayor, Candra Naya is surrounded by four 21st century towers, a superblock called Green City Center, consisting of a Novotel hotel, an apartment, office building, restaurants and banks.
Nevertheless, the large Chinese door, curved brick roof, the red lampions and Chinese calligraphy give the historical building a charming facade. The smaller front building of the house had been the only building left intact, but after much protest from the heritage society and historians, the developer rebuilt the wing buildings, which were dismantled in the 1990s to make way for heavy equipment used for constructing modern commercial buildings.
Candra Naya was built in the 19th century as the house of Khouw Kim An, the last Chinese mayor in Jakarta. Later, the building became the center for a Chinese social and educational organization called Sin Ming Hui after the mayor died in 1946. In 1957, the name was changed to Candra Naya after the government required all foreign names to be changed to Indonesian.
The building was to be relocated to the Beautiful Indonesia Miniature Park or Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (TMII) in East Jakarta but former Jakarta governor Sutiyoso rejected the plan. Now, Candra Naya managed under Dinas Pariwisata dan Kebudayaan DKI Jakarta supervision, it is also located at PT Modernland Realty Tbk. commercial superblock. Visiting this historical site is free, but you are not allowed to taking pictures use high resolution camera.