Batavia’s Portico

This striking sandstone arch was destined for the Dutch East India Company’s fortress in Batavia (now Jakarta). Carved in the Netherlands, it was loaded aboard the VOC ship Batavia for transport to the East Indies.

But the ship never made it. In 1629, the Batavia struck a reef in the Abrolhos Islands and was wrecked on its maiden voyage. The portico, along with cargo, coins, and human stories, sank with her.

Centuries later, divers recovered these stones from the seabed. Now reassembled here, this arch stands as a monument to lost voyages and the ambitions that built empires from stone and sea.