The National Monument

Monumen Nasional, often abbreviated Monas

A towering 137m-tall obelisk of solid bronze platted with 50 kilos of gold shaped into flames up top, this is the most famous landmark in Jakarta. The monument was commissioned by Sukarno in 1961 to celebrate Indonesia's independence, it was completed in 1975 after his death and is consequently known irreverently as Sukarno's Last Erection. The 1 square kilometre Medan Merdeka (Freedom Square) plaza/park around it was created by bulldozing a squatter community. In its basement, look for the collection of dioramas depicting the struggle for Indonesian independence from a firmly revolutionary point of view, while the top has an observation deck. The musical fountain at the east side of the park dances on weekends at 19:00.

• museum
• outdoors
• viewpoint

Address

Lapangan Merdeka (BRT Monumen Nasional), Gambir

Getting there

only the north entrance, via a poorly signposted pedestrian tunnel, is open

Hours

08:00-16:00, except the last Mon of the month

Price

Museum and the first platform Rp 5,000 for adult, Rp 3,000 for student and Rp 2,000 for child; observation desk Rp 10,000 for adult, Rp 5,000 for student and Rp 2,000 for child. Only 1,800 tickets are available per day for the observation desk before noon. Since April 5, 2016, the observation desk is also open from 19:00 to 22:00, with 700 tickets available at Rp 15,000/ticket and ticket sales available only until 9pm, but night observation is closed in Ramadan (fasting) month