Vegetation of Keraton Cirebon as symbolize a cultural Cirebon

Abstract

Vegetation is not only an element of place in the landscape but also can improve a sacred value to a place. There are three Keraton in Cirebon City are known as a sacred place. one of the markers of the sacredness of the palace is the existence of sacred plants. Keraton is a residence of the sultan, who is considered as a messenger of God to this world, and vegetation in it functioned to increase the sacredness of it. The purpose of this study is to find the plant kind be a symbol of the Keraton which contains meaning that increases the sacred value of the Keraton, and also to find the physical function of the vegetation to the Keraton environment. The method used is qualitative analysis. The results study showed there are nine kinds of sacred plants, four of which had the highest level of sacredness can be a symbol of sacredness of Keraton. Besides, this research finding can be a guideline for the conservation activities of the Archipelagos plant.