Exploring Gondang Winangoen Sugar Factory
Crossing the main Solo-Jogja road, you will stumble upon the Gondang Winangoen sugar factory building. Approximately 6 kilometers from the city center, in Plawikan Village, Jogonalan District, Klaten Regency.
The function switching of the suikerfabriek from the Dutch colonial heritage established in the early 19th century to Agro Wisata Gondang Winangonen Agrotourism in 2009 changed the appearance of "GoWin" as an agro-tourism area based on education and recreation without losing the original characteristics of the Sugar Factory building.
Here are some of the charms offered by Gondang Winangoen Agrotourism:
Jawa Tengah Sugar Museum
The museum, which was founded on September 11, 1982 on the initiative of H Soepardjo Roestam, Governor of Jawa Tengah, and with the support of Ur. Waryatmo, President Director of PTP XV-XVI (Persero), is the only sugar museum in Jawa Tengah that is also a differentiator from sugar factories left by the Netherland in other areas. The museum, which is located in a historic colonial house, was opened in 1986 by confectioners from all over the world. The museum includes hundreds of items related to the sugar cane production process, starting from the oldest steam engine, the B Laha Ye & Brissoneant, made in France in 1884, until nineteenth-century machines that are still well preserved. The collection of Forks, Knives, Lencek, Lepak, Pacul, and Sickles, which are used to process the main ingredient of sugar, namely sugar cane, is also a highlight for museum visitors. In addition, the museum's main displays include a collection of various species of sugarcane, weeds, farming equipment, typewriters, calculating machines, and images of factory activities in the early 1900s, which might mesmerize visitors into getting carried away with the old ambiance.
Green Park
This area offers some facilities such as Water park, Water Slide, Flying Fox, Spyder Web, Kids Zone, Suspension Bridge, Adventure Area, Agro Therapy, Marine Brige and Wall Climbing.
Rest Area
This location, on the edges of the Jogja-Solo highway, is commonly used as a rest stop for drivers. Simply to take a break or to pay a visit. This Rest Area includes a Resto and a Home Stay, which is an actual colonial factory administrator's house that is rented out to the public as lodging, meeting rooms, parties, meetings, pre-wedding, and wedding halls. There is also a length of green garden that might help you relax while you are traveling. There is a locomotive monument at the entrance to Gondang Winangoen Agrotourism, which is the world's smallest steam locomotive, in addition to the banyan tree that offers shade for the Rest Area. In fact, there is a steam train that can carry visitors around the factory, explore the historic Dutch architecture around PG GoWin, and pass the vehicles that used to transport sugar cane in the plantation area behind the factory if they so desire.
Gondang Baru Mill Factory
Visitors may still view the process of making sugar directly through a live machine until it closes in 2017. No need to be worried; by strolling around the machines, we can still get a close look at the sweet granules production process. Gondang Winangoen Agrotourism provides a tour guide who will lead us through milling stations, purification, evaporation, crystallization, and drying. (Contributor/Wiwin)
