Lawang Sewu — the Thousand Doors building haunted by war and rail, Semarang

Lawang Sewu (meaning 'Thousand Doors' in Javanese) is a landmark building in Semarang, Central Java, originally built as the administrative headquarters for the Dutch East Indies railway company in 1904. The Art Deco building, famous for its rows of doors and stained-glass windows, served as a Japanese military headquarters during World War II and was the site of the Battle of Semarang in 1945, during which Indonesian independence fighters clashed with Japanese forces. Many people died in and around the building during the battle, and the Japanese reportedly used the basement as a prison and execution site. Since then, Lawang Sewu has been one of Indonesia's most famous haunted locations. Visitors and staff report seeing the ghost of a Dutch woman — possibly the wife of a colonial official — walking the corridors in period dress. The basement, where executions allegedly occurred, produces reports of screaming, shadowy figures, and an overwhelming sense of dread. The building's vast size, its hundreds of doors and windows, and the atmospheric quality of its deteriorating colonial architecture create a building where every corridor seems to lead somewhere unexpected.