Ingloriously dubbed ‘Sukarno’s final erection’, this 132m-high National Monument, which rises into the shroud of smog and towers over Merdeka Sq, is both Jakarta’s principal landmark and the most famous architectural extravagance of the former president. Begun in 1961, Monas was not completed until 1975, when it was officially opened by Suharto. The monument is constructed from Italian marble, and is topped with a sculpted flame, gilded with 35kg of gold leaf.
Entrance to the monument is via an underground tunnel behind it as you approach from the park entrance.
