The Spice Island that shaped world history — volcano, sultanate and clove-scented air
Ternate is a compact volcanic island in the Maluku Sea whose cloves once made it the most coveted place on Earth. Mount Gamalama looms over a city of Portuguese forts, Dutch trading posts, and the centuries-old Sultan's palace. Turquoise crater lakes, sunken WWII wrecks and coral walls just offshore make it equally compelling above and below the water.
Ternate's cloves were the world's only source for centuries, drawing Arab traders by the 9th century and the Portuguese in 1512 — who built Fort Tolukko to monopolise the spice trade. The Dutch expelled them in 1607, but it was the Sultanate of Ternate, founded around 1257, that truly dominated the eastern archipelago for 400 years, at its height controlling trade routes from Sulawesi to New Guinea.