The Rumoh Aceh
A traditional timber house from 1914.
Unknown authorUnknown author — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Si Gam Acèh — CC0 · Si Gam Acèh — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Si Gam Acèh — CC BY-SA 3.0
One of the oldest museums in Indonesia, which began as a traditional Acehnese house raised on stilts, shown as the Aceh pavilion at a colonial exhibition in Semarang in 1914, then moved to Banda Aceh to become the museum's core. That house, the Rumoh Aceh, is still the loveliest thing here, with its carved timber and lofty roof. You step inside the timber house to see how Acehnese families lived: the bedrooms, reception room, kitchen and traditional furniture. The modern building next door holds galleries on the Aceh sultanate's history, Islamic manuscripts and old Qurans, gold coins, traditional weapons such as the rencong, and a section on Aceh's ties with the Ottoman Empire. In the garden hangs a huge bell said to be a gift from an old Chinese fleet. Entry is about five thousand rupiah per adult and three thousand per child. It opens every day except Friday in two sessions: nine to twelve, and half past one to quarter past four. An hour is enough; it is close to the Baiturrahman Mosque and the sultans' tombs, so make it a stop on a city-centre walk.
A traditional timber house from 1914.
Old Qurans and manuscripts.
A section on Ottoman ties.
Jalan Sultan Alaidin Mahmudsyah, central Banda Aceh
Kandang XII Royal Tombs of AcehA royal cemetery of Aceh's early sultans in central Banda Aceh, known as Kandang3 minutes walk4.9
Gunongan Historical Park and Putroe PhangThe remains of a seventeenth-century royal garden, once known as the pleasure ga7 minutes walk4.3
Baiturrahman Grand MosqueThe emblem of Aceh, the land Indonesians call the Verandah of Mecca because it w8 minutes walk4.8
Aceh Tsunami MuseumA museum commemorating the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami of 26 December 208 minutes walk4.5
Kerkhof PeucutA Dutch military cemetery in central Banda Aceh where some two thousand Dutch so9 minutes walk4.6In the sixteenth century the Ottoman Empire sent the Aceh sultanate cannon and military experts to face the Portuguese, and the bond remains part of Acehnese memory and pride.