The Gunongan is a rather curious structure that occupies a busy corner of Banda Aceh. It used to be part of the sultan's palace complex, but now the heavy traffic has cut it off from the rest of the parks and playgrounds of the old palace.
The 'mountain' and bathing place for a princess.
There's a rather fanciful tale recounted on the information sign about how these structures came to be built. According to this legend, the place was built by Sultan Iskandar Muda early in the seventeenth century. The sultan built the Gunongan for his wife (more likely one of his wives), Princess Phang. The princess was originally from Pahang in present-day Malaysia. The princess missed her home, so the sultan built the Gunongan to remind her of the mountains of Pahang.
While it's a sweet story, I wonder a little about its truth. The buildings resemble a mortuary complex more than a bathing space, although the two forms can be surprisingly close together in the architecture of the region.
The little park holding the Gunongan is open daily. There is no admission fee, but note that the gates to each of the structures are always locked. You cannot climb the little mountain or get inside the bathing area. The rest of the structures built by the sultan for his princess are across the street in Putroe Phang Park.