Fort Amsterdam (Curaçao)
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Fort Amsterdam is a fort located in
Willemstad Willemstad ( ; ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of Curaçao, an island in the southern Caribbean Sea that is a Countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It was the cap ...
,
Curaçao Curaçao, officially the Country of Curaçao, is a constituent island country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located in the southern Caribbean Sea (specifically the Dutch Caribbean region), about north of Venezuela. Curaçao includ ...
. It was constructed in 1634 by the
Dutch West India Company The Dutch West India Company () was a Dutch chartered company that was founded in 1621 and went defunct in 1792. Among its founders were Reynier Pauw, Willem Usselincx (1567–1647), and Jessé de Forest (1576–1624). On 3 June 1621, it was gra ...
(WIC) and served not only as a military fort but also as the headquarters of the WIC. Currently it serves as the seat of the government and governor of Curaçao. The fort is named after the Amsterdam chamber of the WIC and was considered the main of eight forts on the island.


History


Construction, design and use

In the 1630s, the
Dutch West India Company The Dutch West India Company () was a Dutch chartered company that was founded in 1621 and went defunct in 1792. Among its founders were Reynier Pauw, Willem Usselincx (1567–1647), and Jessé de Forest (1576–1624). On 3 June 1621, it was gra ...
was searching for a new outpost in the Caribbean. The company set its sight on Curaçao, which was then a Spanish possession. In 1634, the Dutch admiral Johannes van Walbeeck, together with 200 soldiers, landed on the island and fought the 32 Spanish troops, who surrendered on 21 August 1634, after resisting for three weeks. Van Walbeeck ordered the construction of a fort at the mouth of the Sint Anna Bay. Dutch soldiers and slaves from Angola built the fort, which became the headquarters of the WIC from the outset. Conditions in the fort were poor however, due to a lack of drinking water and food. Soldiers almost started a mutiny that a raise in pay and improved rations quelled. In 1635 or 1636 the construction of the fort was completed. Most of the population then went to live in the fort, with the city of Willemstad eventually growing outside of it. The fort was designed with three meter wide walls and five
bastion A bastion 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 fire from the ...
s, however only four were built. The fort had cannons that were located primarily to seaward. In 1804, the British naval captain named John Bligh, of , fired a cannonball at the church. Bligh led a small squadron that captured the fort in February 1804. The ball is still embedded in the southwestern wall of the fort church.


Raid

On 8 June 1929 the Venezuelan rebel
Rafael Simón Urbina Rafael Simón Urbina López (1897-13 November 1950) was a Venezuelan rebel who fought against the dictatorship of Juan Vicente Gómez. Biography Early battles Implicated in a 1919 conspiracy to overthrow President Gómez, he spent four years par ...
, with 250 soldiers, captured the fort. The Venezuelans plundered weapons, ammunition, and the island's treasury. They also managed to capture the Governor of the island, , and hauled him off to Venezuela on the stolen American ship ''Maracaibo''. Following the raid the Dutch government decided to permanently station marines and ships on the island.


Current use

The fort is currently part of the UNESCO
World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...
Historic Area of Willemstad, Inner City and Harbour, Curaçao. The offices of the cabinet and governor of Curaçao are located in the fort. There are also some government offices and a museum of the Protestant community located in the Fort Church. File:Fort Amsterdam, Punda, gouvernement, interieur - 20652093 - RCE.jpg, Interior of the governor apartments, 1954, Dutch Cultural Heritage Agency Fort Amsterdam, Punda, gouvernement, interieur - 20652092 - RCE.jpg, Interior of the governor apartments,1954, Dutch Cultural Heritage Agency File:FORT AMSTERDAM CHURCH, WILLEMSTAD, CURACAO.jpg, The fort church. Fort Amsterdam, Fortkerk, interieur gezien vanuit westelijke galerij - 20652431 - RCE.jpg, Interior of the fort church in 1954. Dutch Cultural Heritage Agency


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fort Amsterdam (Curacao)
Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...
Buildings and structures in Willemstad Dutch West India Company Buildings and structures completed in 1634 1630s in the Caribbean 1634 establishments in the Dutch Empire 1634 establishments in North America Museums in Curaçao World Heritage Sites in Curaçao