FORT NIEUW AMSTERDAM

This fort is the most popular historical site around Paramaribo, and well worth a visit in its own right. It was built in 1734 to protect the hundreds of plantations in the area. Indeed, it is located on a strategic point where Suriname and Commewijne meet: all comings and goings could thus be monitored. During the Second World War, Suriname was the most important country in terms of aluminum, and benefited from American protection. Construction of the Fort took a total of 13 years, due to the Dutch engineers' unfamiliarity with the climate and humidity problems at the time.

Today, it is open to the public as an open-air museum, and as soon as you enter the fort, various cannons greet visitors. We arrive at the powder magazine, built in 1740. The walls are very thick and windowless, so that in the event of an explosion, the blast is directed upwards, limiting the destruction of the surrounding area. A second powder magazine was built in 1778. When the fortress lost its defensive function, the powder magazine became a clinic for the district's inhabitants in 1907. In 1967, the powder magazine was restored. Today, numerous exhibitions are held in the powder magazine. Further on, horse-drawn carriages from the era are on display: the red ones were used by the fire department, while the others were used to transport the dead. Next to the carriages and the powder magazine, a huge cast-iron vat is still in place: it was used to cook sugar cane. Further on, the fort's prison: built in 1872, under the command of Governor Van Idsinga. It was Suriname's only prison until 1967. In 1873, the prison was completed in compliance with the latest laws of the revised penal system. In the same year, the artillery barracks were also regularly used as a prison for criminals. In 1940, when war was declared between the Netherlands and Germany, 156 Germans were imprisoned here. Little is known of the prisoners' living conditions, apart from the fact that they were crammed 15 to a cell, and all were mobilized to maintain the site. The prison was not officially closed until 1982.

A visit to the ground-floor rooms is very interesting, with period reproductions, a 1734 map showing the 436 plantations in the district, and a very old French safe. The upstairs cells are now dedicated to exhibitions by young Surinamese photographers such as Nicolaas Porter and Albert Roessingh. Once outside the prison walls, you can see the second powder magazine, built in 1778. In those days, powder magazines were surrounded by water: today, this one is surrounded by magnificent blue lotuses that are well worth a visit. The façade features interesting ironwork resembling the Suriname Society's coat of arms. Passing the recently built children's playground on the right, you reach the lighthouse boat on the left. It was built in 1905 and positioned at the mouth of the Suriname River from 1911 until around 1939. Passing the playground again, along the river, you come upon the 1820 brick lock. The museum was restored a few years ago. At the entrance to the site, a stele with a turtle commemorates the arrival of Chinese immigration in 1853.