Original vintage photograph of Kali Besar ca. 1870 taken by the photography shop Woodbury and Page. The city of Batavia began as a small port known as Sunda Kelapa and eventually built up by the Dutch East Indies Company as an administrative centre. Kali Besar was one of the access canals for boats to offload goods. Most of the buildings in the picture no longer exist though the shophouses on the right side still stand.