Museum of Sacred Art and Crypt

Not satisfied yet in enjoying classic charm of Senado Square, I slowly moved away. It wasn’t difficult to find direction to ruins of church and college which located about 600 meters north of the square.

Green direction sgins will help you to find it.

My steps continued through several souvenir shops, majority of them sold variety of food. While sun was highy rising, my stomach was getting hungry. But I didn’t rush to look for lunch, instead I did another madness.

Do you want to know?….

You need to know, each stores provides food samples which offered by their employees who stand in front of store area. If there are more than 30 stores there, then do you know what I mean?… let’s don’t think too long.

Look at their totality when sold foods. Their costumes were cool.

Yes, you should know. My madness was taking and tasting almost all types of food samples which offered to tourists for trying the taste.

30 small pieces of cake are certainly more than a portion of lunch for me. So….Free lunch….That’s the point.

And my luck arrived. In the midst of busy chewing a kind of cake, suddenly, I could taste extraordinary savory taste. I continued to chew it until my eyes sharply glared and forced me to turned back to sales promotion girl who offered me the cake.

Me : “What is it?”.

She : “Cake, Sir”.

Me : “No no no, the ingredient?”. Beef or chicken?“

She: “No, It’s pork, Sir”.

Me: “Oh nice taste, Ms”. With fast movement, I vomited the cake in a trash can.

She: “Are you OK, Sir?“

Me: “Yeaaa, I’m Okay, thanks Ms….But, sorry. I can’t eat pork. I’m moslem”.

That was first time, I tasted a nice pork even though it was only a few chews in my mouth.

Ruins of churches and colleges which better known as Ruins of St. Paul was finally right in my eyelids and only separated by a few dozens of stair which I was ready to climb.

Many tourists made everyone were very difficult to captures themselves in front of Ruins of St. Paul gate without any interference from someone behind them.

Oh God, gate of Ruins of St. Paul which I always saw in the world weather forecasts on a cable TV channel, was finally in front of me and I could see it with my naked eyes ….

But…Guys,

This is a ruined site of a church and college….

As a good explorer, you shouldn’t be complacent just by taking a photo of front gate. You must enter to back of gate to imagine how big the church and college were in its heyday.

Let’s entering it!….

Entering the gate, you will see that the wall behind the gate is supported by a very large and thick iron plate. Yes, of course this is to prevent collapse of the gate of Ruins of St. Paul.

Next you will find holes which are covered by a thick layer of glass. So I can only peek it. Then what is that hole?

Estimated as former main pillar (column) of St. Paul church.

Can you imagine how big original pillars of St. Paul church?.

Original form of St. Paul church in cross shape. Cool.

In addition to these square holes, you will also find a subset of space which has been conserved. This is Museum of Sacred Art and Crypt.

So….that’s gaes, the shape of Ruins of St. Paul.

Belumlah puas menikmati pesona klasik Senado Square, Aku pun perlahan menjauh. Tak susah menemukan petunjuk arah menuju situs reruntuhan gereja dan college yang terletak 600 meter di utara alun-alun itu.

Petunjuk arah berwarna hijau akan membantumu menemukannya.

Langkahku berlanjut dengan menelusuri sederetan toko oleh-oleh yang mayoritas menjual makanan. Sementara dengan semakin memuncaknya matahari, perutku semakin lapar. Namun aku tak bergegas mencari makan siang, justru aku melakukan sebuah kegilaan lain.

Mau tahu?….

Perlu kamu ketahui, setiap toko tersebut menyediakan sampel makanan yang ditawarkan para pegawainya yang berdiri di depan area toko. Jika toko disana berjumlah lebih dari 30 buah, maka sudahkah kamu tahu apa maksudku?….yuk, jangan kelamaan mikir.

Lihatlah totalitas mereka menjual makanan. Kostumnya keren kan.

Ya, harusnya kamu tahu. Kegilaanku adalah mengambil dan menyicipi hampir semua jenis sampel makanan yang ditawarkan kepada para turis untuk dicoba rasanya.

30 potongan kecil kue tentu lebih dari seporsi makan siangku. So….Makan siang gratis….Itu intinya.

Dan keberuntunganku itu tiba. Di tengah keasyikanku mengunyah sejenis kue, tiba-tiba ada terselip rasa gurih yang luar biasa. Aku terus mengunyahnya hingga akhirnya mataku melotot tajam dan memaksaku berbalik kepada SPG yang menawariku kue itu.

Aku: “What is it?”.

Doi: “Cake, Sir”.

Aku: “No no no, the ingredient?”. Beef or chicken?“

Doi: “No, It’s pork, Sir”.

Aku: “Oh nice taste, Ms”. Dengan gerakan secepat kilat, aku melepehkan kue itu di sebuah selokan kecil.

Doi: “Are you OK, Sir?“

Aku: “Yeaaa, I’m Okay, thanks Ms….But, sorry. I can’t eat pork. I’m moslem”.

Itulah pertama kalinya Aku merasakan nikmatnya daging babi walau hanya sekedar beberapa kunyahan di rongga mulutku….~~Alhamdulillah~~, akhirnya…..eitttt….Astaghfirullah.

Reruntuhan gereja dan college yang lebih dikenal dengan Ruins St. Paul itu akhirnya tepat berada di pelupuk mata dan hanya terpisah oleh beberapa puluhan anak tangga yang siap untuk kutanjaki.

Banyaknya turis membuat setiap orang susah sekali mengabadikan diri dengan gerbang Ruins St. Paul tanpa ada gangguan seseorang di belakangnya.

Oh Tuhan, Gerbang Ruins St. Paul yang selalu kulihat di prakiraan cuaca dunia di sebuah channel TV kabel akhirnya berada di depanku dan bisa kulihat dengan mata telanjang….Sepuasnya.

Tapi…Temans,

Ini kan situs reruntuhan sebuah gereja dan college….

Sebagai penjelajah yang baik, seharusnya kamu tidak boleh berpuas diri hanya dengan mengambil foto bagian depan saja. Kamu musti masuk ke bagian belakang gerbang untuk membayangkan bagaimana besarnya gereja dan college ini di masa jaya berdirinya.

Yuks, Kita masuk!….

Memasuki gerbang, maka kamu akan melihat bahwa dinding di belakang gerbang disangga oleh plat besi yang sangat besar dan tebal. Ya, tentu ini untuk menanggulangi robohnya gerbang Ruins St. Paul.

Gerbang bagian belakang dijaga oleh *security*.

Berikutnya kamu akan menemukan lubang-lubang yang ditutup oleh lapisan kaca tebal. Jadi aku hanya bisa mengintipnya. Lalu itu lubang apa?

Diperkirakan sebagai bekas tiang utama (kolom) dari Church of St. Paul.

Bisa kamu bayangkan seberapa besar tiang asli Church of St. Paul?.

Bentuk asli Church of St. Paul berbentuk salib ya. Keren.

Selain lubang-lubang persegi tersebut, kamu juga akan menemukan subuah ruangan tersisa yang sudah dikonservasi. Ini adalah ruangan Museum of Sacred Art and Crypt.

So…itulah gaes, wujud dari Ruins St. Paul.

Tag: Museum of Sacred Art and Crypt

Catching a Pig at Ruins St. Paul.

Menangkap Babi di Ruins St. Paul.