- Type
- Fortress
- Built
- 1634 · 17th century
- Coordinates
- 12.1050°, -68.9347°
History
The Dutch West India Company took Curaçao from Spain in 1634 and that same year, under Johannes van Walbeeck, began building a fort at the entrance to St Anna Bay. The town of Willemstad grew up around it and became one of the leading trading centres of the Caribbean, including in the slave trade. The fort housed the governor's residence, barracks and warehouses, and in 1769 a Protestant church was built inside. In 1804 the fort repelled an attack by a British squadron, although the British occupied the island twice around the turn of the 19th century. The fort is part of historic Willemstad, inscribed on the UNESCO list in 1997.
What to see
A gate from the waterfront leads into a courtyard lined with yellow-painted buildings housing the governor's residence and government offices of Curaçao. The fort church, the Fortkerk, has a small museum of old church furnishings and mementoes. Next door are the colourful merchants' houses of the Handelskade and the Queen Emma pontoon bridge across the bay.
Wikipedia article Wikidata Q2424320
Popularity: articles about this site in 12 Wikimedia projects (Wikipedia language editions and others).