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Architectural Gems

Unmistakable Curaçao style blends Dutch Baroque and Caribbean sherbet

By Jane Ammeson

Bustling downtown Willemstad, with its centuries-old store fronts trimmed with white gingerbread and topped with red tile, showcases the historic architecture of this UNESCO World Heritage city, one of just a handful in the Caribbean.

From 1634, when the Dutch West India Company selected Curaçao for its natural deep harbor, the island prospered. Its buildings evolved as an enchanting blend of the Baroque styles found in Amsterdam, painted in the sherbet colors so natural for the Caribbean. Coral and quarry stone were finished with lime plaster and accented with tropical shutters, graceful gables, and arched colonnades.

The pale yellow Fort Amsterdam, built in 1635, now houses the government of the Netherlands Antilles, and is one of eight remaining forts on the island. Willemstad boasts 765 national monuments, including the Mikvé Isreal-Emanuel Synagogue, which still has its characteristic sand floors. Built in 1832, it was the first synagogue established in the new world.

Dating from the 1700s, the Hotel Kurá Hulanda Spa and Casino, now a luxurious 80-room boutique resort within a charming village complex, is the ultimate in subtle and soothing Caribbean charm. Its cobblestone streets and courtyards are filled with artwork, gardens, and fountains. Centuries ago, the word kurá described a mansion surrounded by walls and service buildings.

But this site represented the dark side of glorious Curaçao, the slave trade. So Dr. Jacob Gelt Dekker, who restored the Kurá Hulanda, turned these former slave yards into the Museum Kurá Hulanda, a fascinating — and sobering — collection not only of the marvelous art and culture of the island but also the horror of an industry which enslaved human beings.

Fifty-five restored Dutch plantation houses known as landhuises (land houses) still dot the island. Some remain private homes, while others, such as the landhuises Ascension, Brakkeput Mei Mei, and Groot Davelaar, open their doors to the public. Still others, like Landhuis Daniel and Landhuis Dokterstuin, have become elegant restaurants. Many other traditional dwellings of the countryside, made of stick and mud and called kunuku, also survive.