Curaçao - Adventure Guide to Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao - page 225

scrutiny, so the designation is a true international honor. Once a cultural
or natural site is selected for protection, UNESCO orchestrates its resto-
ration and shields it from environmental threats to preserve it for future
generations to enjoy.
Willemstad was selected because of its collection of European colonial
structures that illustrate the evolution of a multi-cultural community over
a period of 300 years. Each of the city's distinct districts has an individual
history and culture that have entwined over the centuries to create a
unique environment. The most interesting districts, historically and
architecturally, are Punda and Otrobanda , which face each other
across Sint Annabaai (Saint Anna Bay), the entrance to Schottegat
Harbor.
Waterfort and Fort Amsterdam, the oldest structures on the island, sit on
the Punda (the point) side of the bay. The protective stone Waterfort went
up soon after the Dutch West India Company (DWIC) arrived, and its
arches now house seaside restaurants and shops. Fort Amsterdam was
completed in 1648 and became the center point for the city's development.
A church, government offices, and a residence for the island's administra-
tor were built inside its walls.
The stunning arches of Waterfort are now an
historic foundation for the Curaçao Plaza Hotel
and several waterside restaurants and bars. The
yellow fort complex is in excellent condition and
now serves as the seat of government of the Neth-
erlands Antilles. The Fort Church still has an
active Dutch Protestant congregation, and the
building also serves as a museum ( 461-1139)

for old maps and artifacts. An English cannonball
embedded in the church's southwest wall proves
that the Dutch were not being paranoid when they
fortified their city against attack. The famous, or
infamous, Vice Admiral William Bligh , made
immortal by Mutiny on the Bounty , ordered the attack on Fort Amsterdam
in 1804, during a 26-day siege of the city. Admission to the museum is $5
for adults and $3 for kids.
Protected by Waterfort and Fort Amsterdam, the Dutch went about their
favorite pursuit, international trade. Schottegat Harbor hummed with
activity, and warehouses went up along Punda's shore. Narrow streets
were laid out beyond the waterfront for houses and shops. The enclosed
town had more than 200 homes by the early 1700s, and there was limited
space for new development, so people began building outside the fortress
walls on a strip of land called Pietermaai .
Today, Pietermaai has been widened by landfill, but the original layout of
perpendicular streets remains unchanged. Handelskade , the street that
runs along the waterfront of St. Anna Bay, is a showcase of 18th-century
Dutch-Caribbean architecture. Many other original buildings have been

William Bligh, 1814