Gombong
Gombong ( 7°36′S 109°31′E / 7.600°S 109.517°ECoordinates: 7°36′S 109°31′E / 7.600°S 109.517°E) is a town in Kebumen Regency, in the southern part of Central Java, a province in Indonesia. The town has 47,410 inhabitants.[1] The total land area is 19.48 km². Local people speak Banyumasan, a dialect of Javanese.
In 1964, construction of the Catholic Church of St. Michael Parish was completed. In 1996,the Wonokriyo market was built, becoming the biggest one in the region. A few dinosaur statues are located around the city: at the entrance of Fort Van der Wijck, at Tirta Manggala Swimming Pools and at Sempor Reservoir.[2] Not far from the city, the prayer house Geraja Ayam, also known as the chicken church, is built.
Fort Van der Wijk, which was built in the early 19th century by General Johannes Van den Bosch, is located in the northern part of the city.[3] The military compound served to train soldiers for later service in the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army. Suharto, the second President of Indonesia, began his service here on 1 June 1940 prior to the Japanese occupation).[4] The fort was used by the Indonesian Armed Forces until 2000. Since then the compound has been developed as a recreational site.
Notable people
- Maus Gatsonides (1911), Dutch rally driver and inventor of the speed camera.
- Jan Hamer (1927), Dutch survivor during Hurricane Katrina featured in the 2007 book Holding Out and Hanging On: Surviving Hurricane Katrina by Thomas Neff.
References
- ↑ "Badan Pusat Statistik Kabupaten Kebumen". kebumenkab.bps.go.id. Retrieved 2016-07-20.
- ↑ See the dinosaurs in district Gombong
- ↑ History of Fort Van der Wijk
- ↑ Elson, Robert E. (2001). Suharto: A Political Biography. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. p. 8. ISBN 0-521-77326-1.