Java Jamboree: Not Quite a Temple!

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Immediately after landing in Surabaya, it was off sight-seeing. Our guide took us to a little Chinese temple and hey, wait a minute, it wasn't a temple -itwas a mosque! It was Cheng Ho Mosque, which incidentally was the first mosque in Indonesia to be built with Chinese-style architecture. Long before Surabaya became a sultanate in the fifteen century, Chinese had already set foot in Surabaya. The earliest record of Surabaya was in a 1225 book written by a Chinese by the name of Chau Ju-Kua. Then, Surabaya was called Jungala. The famous Chinese admiral, Zheng He only visited Surabaya in the early fifteen century. Ma Huan who accompanied him wrote in his 1433 book Ying-yai Sheng-lan about Sulumayi which actually was just another name for this second largest city in Indonesia, Surabaya...

Visiting a mosque in Surabaya...






Traveling Tip: Visit places of worship!

Comments

Patrice said…
Beautifully captured photos of the mosque - a place of worship.
May 13, 2009 at 4:21 AM
footiam said…
It's a beautiful mosque, no doubt! Thanks for visiting!
May 13, 2009 at 11:43 PM
Angel said…
Looking from the outside view, it's really looks like a temple.
May 16, 2009 at 7:30 AM
footiam said…
It is the inside that counts!
May 16, 2009 at 8:01 PM
Liudmila said…
What a surprise! Chinese are similar to Russian -adopt any confession existing in the world! :-)))
May 23, 2009 at 9:58 AM
footiam said…
They are neighbours; so, they should be the same! Anyway, it's good to play safe. Nothing to lose!
May 24, 2009 at 12:49 AM
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