City at the Edge of a Cliff

Tuesday, August 8, 2006

THIS is a historic city, an old city that transcends time. Founded more than 400 years ago by Panembahan Senopati, Kotagede is home to ancient buildings that symbolize cultural syncretism.

But the earthquake that hit the town late last May ended it all. Nearly 90 percent of the buildings in the old city were destroyed or damaged. No longer is heard the clanging sound of silversmiths working on intricately designed silverware. Kotagede is in mourning. More than a town shattered by a quake, Kotagede is a town at the edge of a cliff.

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THE silversmiths that used to keep the town alive were lost as if swallowed up by the quake. If not for the sound of motorcycles that once in a while speed by or the murmuring of pedestrians, one would feel like they were entering a city that is in deep sorrow, quiet and deserted.

The silversmiths, the inheritors of a skill bequeathed by the empu (masters) remain, only they have lost shelter. The quake which battered towns and villages in Central

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