page_title: List of church buildings in Indonesia
section_title: Dutch East India company in Indonesia
hierarchical_section_title: List of church buildings in Indonesia / History / Dutch East India company in Indonesia
caption_attribution_description: Nederlands: Titel catalogus Leupe (NA): Aftekeningh van het opstal van de Capel by den Ed. Heer van Diemen zal: geprojecteert, staende binnen het Casteel enz. In de catalogus Leupe is bijgeschreven: onder v. Diemen niet hoger dan kroonlijst. 100 j. gebleven daarna toren dak en een verwijzing naar een catalogus van een tentoonstelling Amsterdam 1919. Notities verso: Behoort by de Papieren van algemeen Bestuur 1658 fol. 172 Portef: 1658 I / 173 [moet het folionummer in de band OBP zijn] / 602 ff / 40. / 1658 [in potlood]. English: According to the Leupe catalogue (NA), the original title reads: Aftekeningh van het opstal van de Capel by den Ed. Heer van Diemen zal: geprojecteert, staende binnen het Casteel enz. A later addition in the Leupe catalogue reads: onder v. Diemen niet hoger dan kroonlijst. 100 j. gebleven daarna toren dak and refers to a catalogue to an exhibition in Amsterdam in 1919. Notes on reverse: Behoort by de Papieren van algemeen Bestuur 1658 fol. 172 Portef: 1658 I / 173 [must be the folio number in the OBP volume] / 602 ff / 40. / 1658 [in pencil].
context_page_description: These are lists of church buildings in Indonesia, based on:
  Completion year of the building
  Region
  Around 10% of Indonesia's total population are Christians, and there are approximately 61000 churches across Indonesia. This list strictly only includes notable church buildings and their historic significance in Indonesian history.
context_section_description: Catholicism in Indonesia came into a dark age when the Protestant-Dutch VOC defeated the Portuguese and took over their possession at Mollucas in 1605 and Solor in 1613. Dutch East India Company  or Vereniging Oost Indie Compagnie (VOC) suppressed the Catholic religion within their conquered territories and banned any Catholic missionary activities. Many Catholics were forcibly converted to Protestantism and Catholic churches were changed for Protestant purposes. As a result of their successful campaign in the East Indies and strong sentiment against the Catholics, many of the earliest surviving well-documented church buildings in the Indonesian archipelago are Protestant churches; most of them are concentrated along the north coast of Java and the islands of Moluccas.
  Enslaved Catholics are also encouraged to adapt Protestantism and Dutch sounding names. This happened to the Mardijker people (who were a Portuguese speaking creole group) in Batavia and Depok. Catholicism didn't have any particular rights in Indonesia until 1808 under governor general Daendels, during the French occupation of the Netherlands.
  In Batavia, few of the earliest Protestant church structures in Indonesia are well documented. The first church building in the city was a provisional church, erected in 1625 together with the earlier city hall. In 1632 the foundation for a proper church was laid. This was followed by the first stone to be laid in 1640 and the building, known as Oude Hollandse Kerk ("Old Holland Church"), was finished in 1643. The Old Holland Church was later expanded and renamed "Nieuw Hollandse kerk" ("New Holland Church") in 1736. The new church was shaped octagonally according to Calvinism's focus on the sermon and had a domed roof. The church was toppled by an earthquake in 1808, and the remains were completely demolished by Governor General Daendels to obtain building materials for a new government center in Weltevreden. The base of the church can be seen in the Wayang Museum.
  In 1644, Governor General Antonio van Diemen built a chapel in Batavia Castle at his own expense. Already in 1633, a simple wooden church with straw roof had been built for services in Malay. The Portuguese Binnenkerk (Portuguese church inside the city walls) was built between 1669 and 1672, initially for Malay services, but also to meet the needs of the Portuguese-speaking Christians. Another Portuguese-language church was built outside the city walls in 1695, the Portuguese Buitenkerk, now Gereja Sion, the oldest surviving church building in Indonesia.
  On 18 May 1696, a former VOC officer Cornelis Chastelein bought the land with an area of 12.44 km2, 6.2% the area of today's Depok. There he established the first of its kind in Java, a Protestant congregation consisting of native Indonesians which was named De Eerste Protestante Organisatie van Christenen (DEPOC). A Protestant church, dating back to 1714, can still be seen standing. Its church bell was made in 1675.
caption: The chapel of Kasteel Batavia
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