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HISTORIC WATERFORT
Immerse yourself into
the rich history of the Waterfort, dating back
all the way to the 17th century when the first Waterfort was built.
The Waterfort area of Curaçao has a rich history making it a very unique place. The first Waterfort dates back to 1634, where the West Indische Compagnie (W.I.C.) conquered Curaçao from the Spanish with the aim of turning the island into a privateer centre for the W.I.C.
In the 18th century, King Willem the first devoted himself to Curaçao becoming outdated and King Willem the first to giving orders to replace the outdated fortifications and develop a new defense plan to protect the harbour. The renovations took place between 1827-1829. During these renovations, the second and third Waterfort were demolished to make room for the new fourth Waterfort, which runs form the entrance of St. Anna Bay to Marichi Beach. The Waterfort arches were built in the same period as the Riffort arches on the other side of Punda. These new fortifications were part of the new defence developments.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, forts in the Caribbean area were usually built by trading companies and were often poorly maintained This is the fundamental difference between the first three Waterforts, which were carried out by the W.I.C. (1634-1792), and the current and fourth Waterfort, which was constructed by order of the newly established Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Due to the historic grounds of the waterfront area and the preservation of the historic buildings, on December 4th, 1997, the city of Willemstad was enlisted as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Last year we celebrated the milestone of being 25 years part of the UNESCO World Heritage list.
nationaal archief boogjes
Nationaal archief
Nationaal Archief
nationaal archief boogjes
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