Fort Nassau was the first Dutch fort built on Banda (or Bandaneira) Island, the main island of the

Banda Islands The Banda Islands ( id, Kepulauan Banda) are a volcanic group of ten small volcanic islands in the Banda Sea, about south of Seram Island and about east of Java, and constitute an administrative district (''kecamatan'') within the Central M ...

, part of Maluku in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

, completed in 1609. Its purpose was to control the trade in nutmeg, which at that time was only grown in the Banda Islands. The Portuguese had previously attempted to build a fort in this location in 1529, but after constructing the foundations, they abandoned the work due to hostility from the Bandanese people. On 25 April 1609, the Dutch fleet commander, Admiral Verhoeven, sent 750 soldiers ashore to commence their fort, choosing the Portuguese foundations as the location. The Bandanese, threatened by the new fort and the strength of the Dutch presence, and opposed to the Dutch plan to monopolise the Bandanese

nutmeg Nutmeg is the seed or ground spice of several species of the genus ''Myristica''. ''Myristica fragrans'' (fragrant nutmeg or true nutmeg) is a dark-leaved evergreen tree cultivated for two spices derived from its fruit: nutmeg, from its seed, an ...

industry attacked the Dutch, killing Admiral Verhoeven and 40 of his men. The Dutch hurried the fort to completion, and it served as their principal administrative and military base in the Banda's, later supplemented by other forts on Banda Besar, Forts Hollandia and Concordia, and Ai, Fort Revenge. Fort Nassau was a large four-bastioned quadrilateral structure, located by the channel between Banda and Banda Besar Islands. Today Fort Nassau is overlooked by the more impressive

Fort Belgica Fort Belgica is a 17th-century fort in Banda Neira, Banda Islands, Maluku Islands (the Moluccas), Indonesia; administratively in Central Maluku Regency, Maluku. The fort acted as a fortification system for the islands of Banda which was the only p ...

. It is currently damaged and dilapidated, however two bastions and substantial walls can still be seen.

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