| Fort Nieuw-Amsterdam | |
|---|---|
| Part of Suriname | |
 Fort Nieuw-Amsterdam | |
  Fort Nieuw-Amsterdam | |
| Coordinates | 5°53′17″N55°05′30″W / 5.888056°N 55.091667°W |
| Site information | |
| Open to the public | Yes |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1747 |
| Built by | Society of Suriname |
Fort Nieuw-Amsterdam is a fort in Suriname built from 1734 to 1747 at the confluence of the Suriname and Commewijne rivers. It is open to the public as an open-air museum. [1]
The necessity of improving the fortifications of the colony of Suriname was underscored when French buccaneers under the leadership of Jacques Cassard attacked the colony in 1712. Fort Sommelsdijk, which was situated further upstream the Commewijne River at its confluence with the Cottica River was fortified for this purpose in 1715, but it was clear something more substantial needed to be done to defend the colony against foreign attacks. It was eventually decided to build a new fort at the confluence of the Suriname and Commewijne rivers. When Fort Nieuw-Amsterdam was completed in 1747, Fort Sommelsdijk was downgraded to a military outpost. [2]
Between 1863 and 1967, the fort was used as a prison. It is the location of the decommissioned lightvessel Suriname-Rivier , which is permanently moored in a wet dock inside the fort. [3] After the independence of Suriname, a monument was erected in the fort. [4]
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The Netherlands began its colonization of the Americas with the establishment of trading posts and plantations, which preceded the much wider known colonization activities of the Dutch in Asia. While the first Dutch fort in Asia was built in 1600, the first forts and settlements along the Essequibo River in Guyana date from the 1590s. Actual colonization, with the Dutch settling in the new lands, was not as common as with other European nations. Many of the Dutch settlements were lost or abandoned by the end of the 17th century, but the Netherlands managed to retain possession of Suriname until it gained independence in 1975. Among its several colonies in the region, only the Dutch Caribbean still remains to be part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands today.
Fort Zeelandia is a fortress in Paramaribo, Suriname. In 1640 the French built a wooden fort on the spot, which during the British colonial days was reinforced and became Fort Willoughby. It was taken by the Dutch in 1667 and renamed Fort Zeelandia.
Commewijne is a district of Suriname, located on the right bank of the Suriname River. Commewijne's capital city is Nieuw Amsterdam. Tamanredjo is another major town, while Meerzorg is the most populated.
Berbice is a region along the Berbice River in Guyana, which was between 1627 and 1815 a colony of the Dutch Republic. After having been ceded to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in the latter year, it was merged with Essequibo and Demerara to form the colony of British Guiana in 1831. In 1966, British Guiana gained independence as Guyana.
Jodensavanne was a Jewish plantation community in Suriname, South America, and was for a time the centre of Jewish life in the colony. It was established in the 1600s by Sephardi Jews and became more developed and wealthy after a group of Jews fleeing persecution in Brazil settled there in the 1660s. It was located in what is now Para District, about 50 km (31 mi) south of the capital Paramaribo, on the Suriname River. Sugarcane plantations were established and Black African people were used as slave labour. At its height in around 1700 it was home to roughly 500 plantation owners and 9000 slaves. The colony faced regular attacks from Indigenous people, slave revolts, and even raids from the French navy. The community eventually relocated to the capital of Paramaribo. Clearing of grave sites and maintenance of the synagogue ruins has been attempted at various times from the 1940s to the 21st century.
Nieuw Amsterdam is the capital of the Commewijne District in Suriname. It is a small coastal town situated at the confluence of the Suriname River and Commewijne River, just across from Paramaribo, the country's capital. Its population at the 2012 census was 5,650, with around 1,200 people living in the main town, most of whom are of Javanese and East Indian origin. It is the location of the historical Fort Nieuw-Amsterdam, today an open-air museum. The town of Mariënburg with former sugarcane factory is located 3 km from Nieuw Amsterdam and part of the resort.
The Suriname River is 480 km long and flows through the country Suriname. Its sources are located in the Guiana Highlands on the border between the Wilhelmina Mountains and the Eilerts de Haan Mountains. The river flows below the reservoir along Brokopondo, Berg en Dal, the migrant communities Klaaskreek and Nieuw-Lombé, Jodensavanne, Carolina, Ornamibo and Domburg, before reaching the capital Paramaribo on the left bank and Meerzorg on the right bank. At Nieuw-Amsterdam it is joined by the Commewijne and immediately thereafter at the sandspit Braamspunt it flows into the Atlantic Ocean.
Tapanahoni is a resort in Suriname, located in the Sipaliwini District. Its population at the 2012 census was 13,808. Tapanahoni is a part of Sipaliwini which has no capital, but is directly governed from Paramaribo. Tapanahony is an enormous resort which encompasses a quarter of the country of Suriname. The most important town is Diitabiki which is the residence of the granman of the Ndyuka people since 1950, and the location of the oracle.
Laarwijk is a settlement and a former sugar plantation in the Commewijne District in Suriname. Laarwijk is situated along the Suriname River and can only be reached by boat.
Meerzorg is a town and resort (municipality) in Suriname, located on the eastern bank of the Suriname River, directly opposite the capital Paramaribo. Its population at the 2012 census was 12,405. Since 2000 it has been connected to Paramaribo by the Jules Wijdenbosch Bridge, named after the former President Jules Wijdenbosch.
Alkmaar is a resort in Suriname, located in the Commewijne District. Its population at the 2012 census was 5,561.
The Cassard expedition was a sea voyage by French Navy captain Jacques Cassard in 1712, during the War of the Spanish Succession. Targeting English, Dutch, and Portuguese possessions, he raided and ransomed the colonies of Cape Verde, Sint Eustatius, and Curaçao—factories, depots, and seasoning camps used in the Atlantic slave trade. He also raided and ransomed Montserrat, Antigua, Surinam, Berbice, and Essequibo—wealthy sugar-producing colonies in the Caribbean whose economies were based on the exploitation of slave labor.
Fort Nassau was the capital of the Dutch colony of Berbice, in present-day Guyana. It was situated on the Berbice River approximately 88 kilometres upstream from New Amsterdam.
Surinam, also known as Willoughbyland, was a short-lived early English colony in South America in what is now Suriname. It was founded in 1650 by Lord Willoughby when he was the Royalist Governor of Barbados.
Suriname-Rivier is a lightvessel permanently berthed in a wet dock in the Fort Nieuw-Amsterdam Open-Air Museum in Nieuw-Amsterdam, Commewijne, Suriname.
Bokilifu Boni was a freedom fighter and guerrilla leader in Suriname, when it was under Dutch colonial rule. Born in Cottica to an enslaved African mother who escaped from her Dutch master, he grew up with her among the Maroons in the forest. He was such a powerful leader that his followers were known as Boni's people after him. They built a fort in the lowlands and conducted raids against Dutch plantations along the coast. Under pressure from Dutch regular army and hundreds of freedmen, they went east across the river into French Guiana. Boni continued to conduct raids from there, but was ultimately killed in warfare.
Braamspunt is a nature reserve, fishing village, and a former military outpost in the Johan & Margaretha resort of the Commewijne District of Suriname. Braamspunt is the most western point of the Commewijne District at the combined mouth of the Suriname and Commewijne River. The capital Paramaribo is located to the south of Braamspunt. The name is a corruption of Byam's Point which refers William Byam who was a quartermaster of Willoughby.
The Ferry terminal Leonsberg is a ferry jetty in the north of Paramaribo, Suriname. From here various private operators offer transport service the other side of the Suriname river and the Commewijne River.
Fort Sommelsdijk was a fort in Suriname built in 1686 at the confluence of the Commewijne and Cottica rivers. Later it was used as a mission post and hospital. In 1870, it lost its function and was only used a military outpost. In the 21st century, the fort was taken over by nature.
Buddingh', Hans (1999). Geschiedenis van Suriname. Utrecht: Het Spectrum.
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