Gereja Ayam (Chicken Church)

Abandoned giant chicken-shaped prayer house in the forest above Borobudur

Bukit Rhema, universally known as Gereja Ayam (Chicken Church), is a surreal abandoned prayer house in the forested Menoreh Hills about 2 km west of Borobudur. The building was constructed from the 1990s onward as a non-denominational house of prayer, but was never finished and fell into disuse before being rediscovered by tourists as a peculiar attraction.

The structure is designed in the shape of a dove (or, more convincingly, a giant chicken): the head forms an observation tower at the top, accessible by a narrow internal staircase. The view from the rooster's comb takes in the Kedu Plain, Borobudur's pyramid visible among the trees below, and the volcanic peaks around it. Visits require a modest entrance fee; go early morning for the best light and thinnest crowds.

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A story
Daniel Alamsjah began building his vision in 1990 after what he described as a divine vision: a prayer house shaped like a dove, on a hilltop in the Menoreh Hills. Locals immediately called it the Chicken Church (Gereja Ayam) because the structure looks far more like a chicken than a dove. Construction was never completed and the building was abandoned in 2000 when funding ran out, but the combination of the unusual design, the forest setting, and the views over the Kedu Plain and Borobudur below have made it one of the more photographed oddities in Central Java.

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