Fort Amsterdam is a fort located in Willemstad, Curaçao. It was constructed in 1634 by the Dutch West India Company (DWIC) and served not only as a military fort but also as the headquarters of the DWIC. Currently it serves as the seat of the government and governor of Curaçao. The fort is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Historic Area of Willemstad, Inner City and Harbour.
The Fort Church was built in 1769 and features former warehouses under the Church and a museum on the history and culture of Protestantism in Curaçao from 1643. It has sturdy walls that were built to withstand any attack, and the evidence below explains it did. (A cannonball embedded in an exterior wall has been left as a reminder of the attack by the British in 1804 when the Fort was shelled. Local legend has it that the cannonball was fired from Captain Bligh's infamous Bounty).
In 1635, following the takeover of Curaçao from the Spanish and the British by the Dutch West Indies Company, the new Governor Van Wallbeeck arranged for the arrival of the first preacher on the island, Ds. Fredericus Vitteus. At the time, Curaçao was a military colony, and Ds. Vitteus was, understandably, a garrison preacher.
From these beginnings, the Reformed Church of the Antilles was formed, later named the 'Hervormde Kerk', and from which the origins of the United Protestant Church of Curaçao sprung in 1824. In the Western Hemisphere, only the Reformed Church of New York, (at that time 'Nieuw Amsterdam'), established in 1624 was older.
The Fortchurch is not large, (20.5 X 13.25 m), but is particularly high, with the tallest point of the tower reaching 16 meters above ground level. Given the small area of space available within the Fort, careful planning had to be done for the way it would be used. The high ceilings also doubled as an effective area in which to dry and store ship sails, which were hoisted up by pulley.
The original tower of the Church was octagonal and was replaced by a round one in 1903, (which is clearly marked on the facade), designed by Mr. A.W. Statius Muller, the Head of the Building Department.
The original clockwork in the tower dates from 1788 and was a gift from Captain Dirk van der Meer. During the extensive restoration of the church in 1991, this clock and its five dials in the tower and ceiling were overhauled by Mr. Henk W. Vos van Zalingen.
The Precentor-Sexton Hendrik van Hulst originally designed an organ with ten registers, but in 1785 - at least in the eyes of Ds. Rudolf Widrik - this was too small and he enlarged it by a further four registers. The organ now in use dates from 1963 and was totally restored in 2000. This organ has breastwork, backwork and two manuals, a foot pedal and 17 registers. It was built by Flentrop Orgelbouw N.V. Zaandam, in the Netherlands.
Shortly after WWII, the stained-glass windows were installed. In the west wall, four presentations and text from the Old Testament may be seen. And in the east wall, the presentations depict the Four Evangelists. Two smaller windows, also in the east wall, represent incidents from local Church history.
After various renovations done in earlier years, the Church finally closed due to significant deterioration in late 1988. On February 1st, 1990, a massive restoration project began. The total cost of this restoration work amounted to some 2.5 million Antillian Guilders, of which 600,000 NAfl was raised locally by church members and other parties in Curaçao. The remainder was paid by the 'Meerjarenplan Nederlandse Antillen' an aid plan financed by the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Sunday morning services begin at 9:30. Wedding services are also held at the Church, and because of the excellent acoustics, The Cultural Committee Fortchurch organizes classical and popular music concerts and other cultural events featuring local and international artists.
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