Waterfort is a fort in

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

Curaçao Curaçao ( ; ; pap, Kòrsou, ), officially the Country of Curaçao ( nl, Land Curaçao; pap, Pais Kòrsou), is a Lesser Antilles island country in the southern Caribbean Sea and the Dutch Caribbean region, about north of the Venezuela coast ...

located on the eastern side of the

Sint Anna Bay Sint Anna Bay (Dutch: ''Sint Annabaai'') is a deep channel approximately one mile long and up to 1,000 feet wide, located on the island of Curaçao between the two parts of Willemstad, Punda and Otrobanda. The bay opens into the Caribbean Sea at t ...

. It was built in 1827 to protect Willemstad against attack. In 1858, marines were stationed in the fort. During World War II, the fort was put into operation again. In 1955, the marines were moved to , and

Plaza Hotel Curaçao Plaza Hotel Curaçao is a former hotel in Willemstad, Curaçao. It was constructed in the Waterfort, and opened on 12 October 1957 as Hotel Curaçao Intercontinental. It is the tallest building on the island. The hotel has changed ownership man ...

, a luxury hotel, was built in the fort.

History

The earliest fort at the location dated from 1634, but was abandoned. In the 1820s, all existing forts except for

Fort Beekenburg Spaanse Water is a town on the island of Curaçao. It contains the tourist resort ''Nieuwpoort'', the village of ''Santa Barbara'', and the Tafelberg. Spaanse Water is a natural harbour and lagoon located to the east of Willemstad. The lagoon con ...

were in a neglected state, and governor Paulus Roelof Cantz'laar developed a plan to strengthen the fortifications of Curaçao. In 1825,

William I of the Netherlands William I (Willem Frederik, Prince of Orange-Nassau; 24 August 1772 – 12 December 1843) was a Prince of Orange, the King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg. He was the son of the last Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic, who we ...

appointed Lieutenant General Krayenhoff to construct new defences. Krayenhoff arrived in Curaçao on 26 June. The plan was to build Waterfort on the eastern side of the harbour and the Rif Fort on the western side. The plan was approved on 10 August 1826, and construction started in 1827. The completion of Waterfort meant that

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 the ...

no longer played a defensive role. In 1858, the Willem III Barracks were built inside the fort to house 178 marines. By 1917, the fort had become obsolete, and had been abandoned. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the fort reopened, and the

Netherlands Marine Corps The Netherlands Marine Corps ( nl, Korps Mariniers) is the elite naval infantry corps of the Royal Netherlands Navy. The marines trace their origins back to the establishment of the on 10 December 1665, by the then grand pensionary of the Dut ...

reoccupied the barracks. In 1955, it was decided to build

, a luxury hotel, inside the fort. The marines were relocated to in late 1955, and the barracks were demolished.

References

{{Buildings in Curaçao Waterfort Buildings and structures in Willemstad