Jalan Ijen in Malang

The boulevard in Malang

Along Jalan Ijen, there are big beautiful houses with large gardens. These houses were built with Dutch influence and occupied by the Dutch during the colonial era. Due to nice weather in Malang, it became a popular destination for Dutch people and other Europeans, especially those who lived in Surabaya.

Street in Indonesian is called jalan. Ijen is a name of a mountain in East Java. This street is separated by a long park decorated with bougainvillea and carnation flowers. Palm trees line the streets. A friend said that it looks South France.

You can see the old-fashioned Dutch characteristics on the houses and buildings in Malang, especially the houses on this beautiful, well preserved street. Some still have Dutch name on it, like shown here below.

Malang’s government wants to keep the Dutch architect of old buildings. The owner has to get a permit from the government if they want to renovate their houses.

Another old building from Dutch colonial time on this street is St.Maria dari Gunung Karmel (St. Maria from Karmel mountain). This is a beautiful catholic church and is still used for mass.

This street is also used as the location for Festival Malang Kembali or Old Time Malang Festive. This annual festival is held for a few days in May. The first festival was held in 2006. The street is changed to look like colonial times and the old-fashioned-Dutch architecture houses are good and suitable background for this feast.

There is also a path for pedestrian. You can take a walk along this street or take becak (pedicab) to enjoy the boulevard of Malang.

If you have relatives or friends who have lived in Malang many many years ago and would like to see the houses where they have lived, you can contact me. I can help you to find it or at least to find and visit the area if the house might not exist any more.

UPDATE JANUARY 2012

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As from December 18th, 2011 Jalan Ijen becomes traffic free every Sunday from 05.00-09.30 am. Malang people come here for morning walk, biking, skateboarding and there are also people who do gymnastics together.

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