Anyer – Carita – Labuan in the western part of Banten province, was destroyed by Tsunami at the time of the eruption of Krakatau in 1883, has become the tourism area

In Anyer area, we can see the old tower called Anyer Lighthouse. The tower with the height of 75.5 meters is consist of 18 levels, was built during the Dutch’s colonialism.

If we see from the inscription in the base of the lighthouse, the building made of steel with the thickness of 2.5 cm, was already standing for more than 170 years ago, since 1885. Until now, the tower still guides the ships coming in and out in the night.

The tower that believed as the zero point of the access road from Anyer (Banten) to Panarukan (East Java), built by Daendels, one of the Dutch’s Governor General during that time.  It is the starting point when Daendels started his Mega Project in 1825

Daendels made the economical access road from Anyer to Panarukan about 1,000 km. The project that sacrificed more than thousands Indonesian people is connecting Cilegon – Serang – Tanggerang – Jakarta ( Sunda Kelapa / Batavia) – Cirebon – Semarang – Surabaya – Pasuruan.

The people who lived along this project was forced to work without any payment that famous for “ Rodi Work (Kerja Rodi). The access road was built by the sweat, blood & the corpse of the Indonesian, also known as Daendels’s Road or Rodi’s road.

Unfortunately, there is no monument or inscription to commemorate the bloody history.

They said that when Krakatau was erupted, the lighthouse was also shattered. The ruins and the foundation still can be seen in a few meters from the lighthouse. So, this current lighthouse is actually the new building.

This building was also almost flattened by bomb of Japanese’s Navy in 1942. Although it wasn’t collapse, this lighthouse was in a great damage. The former of the bomb is still can be seen when we climbed up this lighthouse.

Now, this lighthouse is like drawn in the middle of the sea of the resorts, whereas it is the silent witness of the Dutch’s Collonialism.