Oranjestad (; en, Orange Town) is a small town of 1,038 inhabitants; it is the capital of the island of

Sint Eustatius Sint Eustatius (, ), also known locally as Statia (), is an island in the Caribbean. It is a special municipality (officially "public body") of the Netherlands. The island lies in the northern Leeward Islands portion of the West Indies, sout ...

in the

Caribbean Netherlands ) , image_map = BES islands location map.svg , map_caption = Location of the Caribbean Netherlands (green and circled). From left to right: Bonaire, Saba, and Sint Eustatius , elevation_max_m = 887 , elevation_max_footnotes = , demographic ...

Geography

Oranjestad is a historic harbour town which is divided into two main sections. Lower Town is a strip of buildings just

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance ( height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as '' orthometric heights''. Th ...

along the waterfront, which borders on the island's safest beach. Lower Town includes dive shops, numerous colonial-era ruins, and the harbour. Upper Town has a restored historic core, and is also the island's main commercial and residential centre.

History

Historical sites

The first colonist arrived between 1625 and 1629. Sint Eustatius produced sugar and cotton, but most importantly developed into a centre of the North American slave trade. In 1780, the island had an estimated population of 20,000 people including slaves. In 1781, during the

Fourth Anglo-Dutch War The Fourth Anglo-Dutch War ( nl, Vierde Engels-Nederlandse Oorlog; 1780–1784) was a conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Dutch Republic. The war, contemporary with the War of American Independence (1775-1783), broke out o ...

, the island was captured and plundered by

George Rodney Admiral George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney, KB ( bap. 13 February 1718 – 24 May 1792), was a British naval officer. He is best known for his commands in the American War of Independence, particularly his victory over the French at th ...

. During the capture, all archives were destroyed. In 1786, it was home to 7,600 people (3,000 white, 600 coloureds and 4,000 slaves). In 1829, the population had decreased to 2,273. The main historical site in Oranjestad is Fort Oranje, a well-maintained, 17th-century fort in the direct centre of the town, overlooking the waterfront. This cliff-side fort has

cannon A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...

s, intact

bastion A bastion or bulwark is a structure projecting outward from the curtain wall of a fortification, most commonly angular in shape and positioned at the corners of the fort. The fully developed bastion consists of two faces and two flanks, with fi ...

s and a courtyard. Nearby is a museum, the ruins of one of the oldest synagogues in the

Western Hemisphere The Western Hemisphere is the half of the planet Earth that lies west of the prime meridian (which crosses Greenwich, London, United Kingdom) and east of the antimeridian. The other half is called the Eastern Hemisphere. Politically, the te ...

, and a

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...

ish cemetery. The town's historical features also include a

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 ...

built in 1755, which is partly in ruins but still accessible (its tower can be climbed for long-distance views), various restored 18th-century merchants’ residences – including the oldest one, the ''Gezaghebber'' House (former Lieutenant Governor's residence) on Kerkstraat – and restored wooden Caribbean-style houses. Snorkeling in Oranje Bay is also interesting because of the parts of 18th century buildings on the bay side that were swept into the sea.

Facilities

Oranjestad itself contains grocery stores, restaurants, bars, a library, schools, a clinic and the administrative offices of the government.

Climate

References

Bibliography

External links

St. Eustatius Historical Foundation Museum
{{Lighthouse identifiers , qid2=Q58206150 Populated places in Sint Eustatius Capitals in the Caribbean Underwater ruins Lighthouses in Sint Eustatius