The ruins of Surosowan Palace sit in the old city of Banten, once the seat of one of Java's most powerful sultanates. Built in the 16th century, the palace served as the political center of the Sultanate of Banten until the Dutch dismantled it in the early 1800s.
What remains today are red-brick walls, fragments of gates, a water castle, and the outlines of moats and alleyways. It takes some imagination to reconstruct the grandeur, but the scale of the site is still impressive. Combined with the nearby Grand Mosque of Banten and the old Chinese temple, it makes for a worthwhile half-day exploring Banten's layered history.