Candi Gedong Songo

The name of Gedong Songo is taken from the Javanese language, namely gedong and songo. Gedong which means building or house, and songo is the number nine. So this temple has the meaning of the temple which numbered nine. This temple is a relic of Hindu history located on Mount Ungaran. This temple was discovered by Raffles in 1804, and is thought to have been built during the Syailendra Dynasty in the 9th century.nnIf you have ever come to a temple in Dieng, namely Arjuna Temple, surely you will know that all the architecture of this building is almost similar to the temple area in Dieng. Gedong Songo Temple is located at an altitude of 1,200 meters above sea level with a fairly cold temperature of 19-27 degrees Celsius.nnThe Songo building was originally called Gedong Pitoe by Raffles because at that time only 7 temples were found, then in 1825 Van Braam made a publication of his findings, then in 1865 Hoopermans and Friederich wrote about this tourist area. From 1910 to 1911, the construction was led by Knebel by conducting an inventory of hot water in the Gedong Songo Temple.nnIn 1916 the Dutch government officially examined several buildings of the temple, where the research was carried out by the Dutch Antiquities Service. Then in 1928 to 1929, the restoration of Gedong 1 Temple was carried out. Then it was followed by repairs to Gedong 2 Temple in 1930-1932.nnThe Indonesian government itself began to take over and make repairs in 1977-1983, where improvements were made to temples 3, 4 and 5 carried out by SPSP (Archaeological Heritage Preservation Center). Until 2009 this place began to be completely overhauled and repaired.

I visited this place for the first time in 2011, and at that time it was still barely developed, and there was no paved pathway along the way to see all temples. However, it was better, in my opinion, as everything still looks natural and the situation is very quiet and peaceful. I returned to this place a week ago, and now it is totally different. It is better in terms of safety for the visitors as they now put a paved pathway with guardrail throughout the site. However, they have a tacky amusement center right in the middle of the site, totally unmatched with the surroundings. I prefer the old version of this place as the temple is supposed to be a sacred place for the believers.

good nature and heritage. You can explore by foot or riding horse. There are hot spring too. if you want to dip in hot spring, don't forget to bring some change

A must do when visiting semarang. Very recommended. A light hike with beautiful scenery of Ungaran hill and old temples in 5 locations. Fresh air. There are some new tourist attractions nearby. Food is very cheap. Location is quite far from center of Semarang city. Transportation is quite challenging, I went by motorbike. Need to check your car due to steep road climb.

Great place to go.....you must go there