As the name suggests, this fort was buried and abandoned, covered with dirt from the coast, until it was no longer visible. Until finally, the government of Cilacap Regency carried out excavations so that the fort could be seen. However, in fact there are still hidden fort buildings.
Cilacap is a city at the southern tip of Central Java. In the southeast, to be precise at the eastern end of Teluk Turtle Beach, there is a historical place relic of the Dutch named Benteng Pendem. In Dutch, this fort is named Kustbatterij op de Landtong te Cilacap which means ‘a coastal defense place on land jutting into the sea’. The Dutch heritage building is also adjacent to the Pertamina Oil Refinery Unit IV Cilacap Area 70 reservoir.
The fort was built in stages from 1861 to 1879 on a land area of 10.5 hectares by a Dutch architect. This European-style fort built underground makes local residents call it the Pendem Fort. This fort is also an imitation of the Rhijnauwen Fort, which is the largest fort in the Netherlands.
By the Dutch, Cilacap was considered strategic for landing and protecting Nusakambangan Island. That is why, Fort Pendem was established as a defense headquarters for the Dutch army, for the defense of the South Coast of Java. In 1942 the fort was captured by Japanese troops, then the Dutch troops re-captured the fort in late 1945 to 1950. Two years left, at the end of 1952 to 1965, Fort Pendem was used as a headquarters for the Indonesian National Army (TNI) as a training ground.
From 1965 to 1986, the fort area was neglected and neglected. In fact, this fort could not be seen because the building was buried in the coastal soil of Turtle Bay. Almost the entire fortress building sank to a depth of 3 meters below ground level.
The gate made by the local government looks like the shape of a fort located in the Pendem Fort area. Even though it is hundreds of years old, most of the fort buildings made of red bricks without concrete still look strong.
When entering the fort area, visitors will find a concrete bridge with a width of approximately one meter above the defense moat. Usually, there are several children swimming together. When visitors cross the bridge, the children often ask for coins to be thrown, and they will dive to the bottom of the trench to grab the coins that are thrown at each other.
The Pendem Fort area consists of several buildings and rooms that are still solid today. These rooms consist of a barracks room, a defensive fort, a reconnaissance fort, a meeting room, an armory, a munitions warehouse, a medical clinic, an officer’s room kitchen, ammunition and bullet rooms, and prisons. However, since the first discovery, many rooms in the fort area are not fully known. In addition, there is a mention that in Pendem Fort there is a secret underwater tunnel leading to other forts and to caves on the island of Nusakambangan. It is said that the tunnel was covered with dirt and pools of sea water because many of the walls were leaking.
Not only full of history, Pendem Fort is also full of mystical stories so that it is often used as a place to test the guts of local residents, and is highlighted by various national television programs. How come. There are many rooms in Fort Pendem that only a small amount of light can enter. Even today, there are still some of the fort buildings that have not been excavated. The prison, which measures 4×3 meters and has only one window equipped with a layered trellis, also adds to the spooky feel when imagining events during the colonial period many years ago.
Surrounding the Pendem Fort area is not so tiring, because there are several huts and places to sit for visitors to rest. Not only to learn history, Pendem Fort can also be visited by families to just relax and have a picnic, because the area is quite large. Around the fort there are 40 tame deer that are left alive, usually the deer gather on the south side of the fort, more precisely on the earthen mound in front of the prison room.
Various facilities that are continuously improved by the Cilacap Regency Government make Benteng Pendem crowded with visitors, especially on weekends. Not only from Cilacap, many visitors come from outside Java. Usually, after being satisfied around the Pendem Fort, visitors move to Teluk Turtle Beach which is right in front of it which is still in the same area as the Pendem Fort.
Not only that, visitors can also enjoy the beauty of the white beaches of Nusakambangan Island which are across the bay. When visiting Turtle Bay Beach, visitors are usually immediately approached by local residents who offer crossing services to Nusakambangan Island. Tired of enjoying the beauty of the fort and the beach, visitors can also bring souvenirs from various handicraft shops from shells.