Istana Bogor or The Bogor Palace - Presidential Palaces of Indonesia

Istana Bogor or The Bogor Palace is one of 6 Presidential Palaces of Indonesia, it is located in the city of Bogor, West Java, The palace remain mostly unused until February 2015, when the new president Joko Widodo moved the president's office from Merdeka Palace to Bogor Palace.

The gardens of the palace covers an area of 284,000 square metres.  During the colonial era the palace became favorite residence of the Governors-General due to Bogor's more adaptable climate. Raffles had Buitenzorg Palace as his residence due to the temperate climate of the hills of Bogor, while conducting most of the council meeting in the palace of Rijswijk in Batavia. 

During his stay he had the garden of the Buitenzorg palace transformed into an English garden, which became an inspiration for the later botanical garden.

Later the new governor general Baron van der Capellen added a small dome on the roof of the main building and founded the botanical garden next to the palace ground.

Those planning to visit the Istana Bogor must think ahead, only groups of 30 or more are admitted after permission has been secured through the Istana or the tourist office at least a week ahead of the planned visit, guests must be formally dressed and children under 10 are not admitted because of the value and fragility of the objects; if visitors can meet all these requirements they deserve a prize. In Jakarta, applications can be made through the Sekretariat Negara.