Braga Street 4.78

Braga Street is a small street in the center of Bandung, Indonesia, which was famous in the 1920s as a promenade street. Chic cafes, boutiques and restaurants with European ambiance along the street had made the city to attain the Paris of Java nickname. The street starts from a T-junction with the Asia-Afrika Street to the north until the city council, which was formerly a coffee warehouse.Early historyThe first name of the street was Karreweg. The city residents dubbed it Pedatiweg, from the Indonesian language of horse-drawn carriages (pedati), because it was a narrow street (about 10 m or 30 feet wide) that only carriages could pass through. The street was built only to connect the major Great Post Road with a coffee warehouse, owned by a Dutch coffee plantation owner Andries de Wilde (the warehouse is now the seat of the city administration or balaikota). In 1856, when Bandung was the capital of Priangan Regency, some colonial houses were built along the dirt road of Braga Street with their houses thatched with reeds, alang-alang grass or other straw materials.In 1882, a theater group established itself at the south part of the street and the Toneel Braga, the name of the drama group, became famous. Residents flocked into the street to watch the group's performance every night and therefore the road was improved by stone pavements, and oil lamps were installed. The street was at that time popularly known as the Braga street.