What connects the railway, architecture and ghosts? Semarang has the answer: the house called Lawang Sewu, which means «Thousand Doors» in Javanese.

Today, this is a city landmark of Semarang, but the original role of the colonial-era building was to host the headquarters of the Dutch East Indian Railway Company.

In addition to the beauty and luxury of the Dutch architectural style, Lawang Sewu has a million secrets, «roaming» among locals and successfully spreading around the world. Tourists from different countries aspire to visit this house when being in Semarang.

The building on Pemuda Street, constructed in 1907-1919, got its name due to the specific design: there are a lot of doors, arches, and openings. There are more than 600 large windows alone and more than 900 doors.

The mysterious house consists of several buildings: A and B are larger ones, C and D are smaller. Building A is different because of two identical turrets, initially served as reservoirs of 14 thousand liters. The stained-glass windows and the main staircase in the central part of the house are also attractive. Previously, there was an underground passage connected the house with important directions. For example, with the governor's mansion and the city pier.

Building B has three levels: the first two are office premises, and the third is a dance hall. The hot Javanese climate requires special cooling of a large construction. So there is a technical basement, partly filled with water that provides cool evaporation.

And what about ghosts? There are plenty of them, as the eyewitnesses assure! They live both inside and around the house. (The sculpture in front is not frozen ghosts, no: it is a memorial to five workers who died during the Indonesian Independence War). The Dutch Lady who committed suicide here and headless vampires are the ghosts you can meet in the house among others.

Lawang Sewu is visited by many curious people, but thanks to its scale you can rarely meet a like-minded person who finds out mystical stories. Probably, ghosts are more common here!