The Fort Church ( nl, Fortkerk) is a church of the United Protestant Community located in the court of

Fort Amsterdam Fort Amsterdam was a fort on the southern tip of Manhattan at the confluence of the Hudson and East rivers. It was the administrative headquarters for the Dutch and then English/British rule of the colony of New Netherland and subsequently th ...

Willemstad Willemstad ( , ; ; en, William Town, italic=yes) is the capital city of Curaçao, an island in the southern Caribbean Sea that forms a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It was the capital of the Netherlands Antilles pr ...

, Curaçao. The church dates from 1796, and is still in use. A museum is located in the basement. The Fort Church is listed as a UNESCO

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

History

In 1635, after the conquest of Curaçao by the Dutch West India Company, construction started of

. The next year, a wooden

Dutch Reformed church The Dutch Reformed Church (, abbreviated NHK) was the largest Christian denomination in the Netherlands from the onset of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century until 1930. It was the original denomination of the Dutch Royal Family and ...

was constructed. In 1766, the present church was built to serve the garrison, and was consecrated im 1769. In 1804, Curaçao was conquered by

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

, and a

cannonball A round shot (also called solid shot or simply ball) is a solid spherical projectile without explosive charge, launched from a gun. Its diameter is slightly less than the bore of the barrel from which it is shot. A round shot fired from a lar ...

is located in the outerwall of the church. The church of the

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

community, the other protestant denomination, burnt down during the conquest. It was decided that the Reformed and Lutherans would share the Fort Church. In 1824, the Lutheran Church and Dutch Reformed Church merged into the United Protestant Community of Curaçao. The

octagonal In geometry, an octagon (from the Greek ὀκτάγωνον ''oktágōnon'', "eight angles") is an eight-sided polygon or 8-gon. A '' regular octagon'' has Schläfli symbol and can also be constructed as a quasiregular truncated square, t, w ...

church tower was replaced by a round tower in 1903. The church was restored in 1991. In 1995, it was awarded monument status. In 1997, the historical centre of Willemstad including the Fort Church was listed as a UNESCO

. The Fort Church is the most important church of the community, and offers services in

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

every Sunday morning. The mahogany pulpit and governor's bench date from 1769 and were designed by Pieter de Mey.

Fort Church Museum

A museum is located in the basement of the Fort Church, and contains an overview of the Protestant history of Curaçao. The museum contains the original clockwork of 1766 which was built by Dirk van der Meer, and is considered a masterpiece.

Gallery

File:Fortkerk van Fort Amsterdam, Willemstad (Curaçao), Bestanddeelnr 935-1159.jpg, Fort Church (1940-1945) File:Fort Amsterdam, Fortkerk, interieur gezien vanuit westelijke galerij - 20652431 - RCE.jpg, West gallery (1954) File:Punda, Fort Amsterdam, Protestantse Fortkerk, preekstoel - 20652125 - RCE.jpg, Pulpit (1954) Collectie Nationaal Museum van Wereldculturen TM-20029197 Binnenplaats van het Fort Amsterdam met de fortkerk, gelegen in het stadsdeel Punda Curacao Dhr. J.D. (Jaap) de Jonge (Fotograaf).jpg, Fort Church (1980-1983)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Basilica of St. Anne, Church Churches in Curaçao Buildings and structures in Willemstad 1769 establishments in the Dutch Republic 18th-century architecture in the Netherlands