Rincon is one of the two towns in

Bonaire Bonaire is a Caribbean island in the Leeward Antilles, and is a Caribbean Netherlands, special municipality (officially Public body (Netherlands), "public body") of the Netherlands. Its capital is the port of Kralendijk, on the west (Windward an ...

, a special municipality of the

Kingdom of the Netherlands The Kingdom of the Netherlands (, ;, , ), commonly known simply as the Netherlands, is a sovereign state consisting of a collection of constituent territories united under the monarch of the Netherlands, who functions as head of state. The re ...

. It is situated in the north of the island in an inland valley. The village 1000 Steps is part of Rincon.

History

Rincon was established in 1527 by the Spanish and is the oldest settlement in the

Dutch Caribbean The Dutch Caribbean (historically known as the Dutch West Indies) are the New World territories, colonies, and countries (former and current) of the Dutch Empire and the Kingdom of the Netherlands located in the Caribbean Sea, mainly the norther ...

. The location was chosen because it was surrounded by hills and out of sight from pirates. The availability of fresh water allowed for agriculture. it has a population of 1,875. The only other formally recognized town on

Kralendijk Kralendijk () is the capital and main port of the island of Bonaire in the Caribbean Netherlands. The language spoken in the town is Papiamentu, but Dutch and English are widely used. , the town had a population of 10,620. In Papiamentu, the to ...

. The St. Louis Bertrand Church is located in Rincon.

Culture

Festivals

The biggest festival of Bonaire, ''Dia di Rincon'', takes place every year on 30 April in Rincon. It was first celebrated on 30 April 1989 on the initiative of Francisco "Broertje" Janga, a writer from Rincon. Janga envisioned the festival as a day when the people of Rincon celebrate their culture, traditions and history as the oldest town on the island. The celebration starts at 8:00 in the morning with lifting the town flag of Rincon, followed by performances and a festive parade through the village to celebrate the end of the harvest period (Simadan). In 2019, more than 12.000 people attended this festival. It is a public holiday in Bonaire. Other regular festivals include Dia di San Juan and the Bari Festival.

Amenities

There is a monthly market on the first Saturday of every month and a smaller weekly version every Saturday.

Sports

Rincon football teams are

Real Rincon SV Real Rincon is a professional football club from the town of Rincon in Bonaire, Caribbean Netherlands. The team has won the Bonaire League on 11 occasions, most recently in 2018–19, as well as twice finishing top of the unofficial transition ...

and Vespo.

Notable people

Miguel Pourier Miguel Arcangel Pourier (29 September 1938 – 23 March 2013) served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands Antilles three times. He first served from 6 July 1979 to December 1979; he next served from 31 March 1994 to 14 May 1998 and he last served ...

History

Culture

Festivals

Amenities

Sports

Notable people

See also

References

Bibliography

External links