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

Fort Amsterdam Fort Amsterdam, (later, Fort George among other names) was a fortification on the southern tip of Manhattan Island at the confluence of the Hudson River, Hudson and East River, East rivers in what is now New York City. The fort and the island ...

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 ...

. The church dates from 1769, and is still in use. A museum is located in the basement. The Fort Church is listed as a 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 ...

History

In 1635, after the conquest of Curaçao 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 ...

, 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 traditional denomination of the Dutch royal famil ...

was constructed. In 1766, the present church was built to serve the

garrison A garrison is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a military base or fortified military headquarters. A garrison is usually in a city ...

, 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 north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

, 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 a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

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 () 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, which alternates two types of edges. A truncated octagon, t is a hex ...

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 or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

every Sunday morning. The

mahogany Mahogany is a straight- grained, reddish-brown timber of three tropical hardwood species of the genus ''Swietenia'', indigenous to the AmericasBridgewater, Samuel (2012). ''A Natural History of Belize: Inside the Maya Forest''. Austin: Universit ...

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