Palopo

Palopo – The city of legends and landscapes

South Sulawesi's Palopo is among one of the younger cities in Indonesia, having only become autonomous in 2002. The city itself was founded by the rulers of the Luwu Kingdom back in the early 1600s and was the birthplace of La Gailigo, the 6,000-page epic poem passed down through oral tradition that serves as the creation myth of the local indigenous Bugis people (Palopo was known as a place called Ware within that poem). The city today, which houses 177,526 residents living throughout the city's 247.52 square kilometer territory, serves as a gateway to the highlands of Tana Toraja.

Relics of Palopo's ancient history still exist to this day, chief among which is the Palopo Old Mosque, which was constructed around the time of Palopo's founding and is made almost entirely of rock and chalk. The Langkanae Luwu Palace where members of Luwu royalty resided is another well-preserved historic site. Anyone interested in learning more about the Luwu Kingdom can visit the Batara Guru Museum with its 831 collections. There are also plenty of nature-based destinations to visit, such as the soothing Labombo and Likubang beaches, the panoramic Sampoddo and Kambo hills, and other places like the Latupa Waterfall and the Kallo Dewata Caves.

Despite the fact that it has yet to regain its pre-pandemic highs of around 7.52 percent growth in 2018 and 6.75 percent growth in 2019, Palopo has nevertheless managed to experience positive if uneven growth in recent years, going from 5.41 percent growth in 2021, 5.83 percent growth in 2022, to 4.34 percent growth in 2023. Its Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP) at current prices in 2023 was

Rp 10.49 trillion, with the biggest contributing industries being wholesale retail and trade (at Rp 2.49 trillion or 23.70 percent), construction (at Rp 1.84 trillion or 17.47 percent), and agriculture, forestry and fishing (at Rp 1.72 trillion or 16.34 percent).