History of Ternate Sultanate Palace in North Maluku Province, Indonesia

The Ternate Sultanate Palace is located on the coastal plain in the village of Soa-Sio, Desa Letter C, Ternate City, North Maluku Province. The location of the Ternate Sultanate Palace is not far from the city center

The Ternate Sultanate had an important role in the eastern region of the archipelago from the XIII century to the XVII century. In its golden age, namely in the sixteenth century, the authority of the sultanate stretched from all regions in Maluku, North Sulawesi, islands in the southern Philippines, to the Marshall Islands in the Pacific.

On December 7, 1976, the Ternate Sultanate Palace was included as a cultural heritage object. The heirs of the Ternate Sultanate led by the Young Sultan Mudzafar Syah, surrendered the sultanate's palace to the Government of the Directorate General of Culture to be restored, maintained and preserved in accordance with the prevailing laws and regulations.

This palace is lined with walls with a height of more than 3 meters, which resembles a fortress. In this palace environment, there is also a royal settlement complex and his family, and the tomb complex of the sultanate's predecessors. This European-style palace overlooking the sea is in a complex with a sultanate mosque which was founded by Sultan Hamzah, the 9th Ternate Sultan.

The Current Ternate Sultanate Palace

The interior design of the palace is full of gold ornaments. In the inner room, there were clothes from embroidery, fancy gold threads, gold jewelry and giant necklaces of pure gold, crowns, shoulder bands, sleeves, earrings, earrings, rings and bracelets which were almost all made of gold. This is an indicator that the Ternate Sultanate had experienced a period of glory.

In addition, this magnificent palace also stores, maintains and exhibits heirlooms belonging to the sultanates, such as weapons (rifles, small cannons, round bullets, spears, machetes and shields), armor, royal clothes, war hats , household appliances, and ancient manuscripts (Al-Quran, edicts, and letters of agreement).

Not far from the palace, there are stalls selling souvenirs and special foods of North Maluku such as papeda (sago), crab walnuts, halua walnuts, bagea, and processed fish, such as fufu fish (smoked fish) and gohu fish