In 1613 the Dutch Dirk van Sanen and Nicolaas Baliestel started building a factorij on a piece of land on the north coast of South America. Factorij, in English factory was the name for a trading post in the 17th century. Van Sanen and Baliestel built their trading post at a strategic point at a protruding point in the bend of what would later be called the Suriname River. Due to circumstances they didn't stay very long.
Then French settlers led by Noailly further expanded the structure in 1644 and made a fortress wall around it. They too left the fortress quickly and in 1650 the English plantation owners from Barbados took possession of the fort.
They named the fort Willoughby after Lord Francis Willoughby, Count of Parmaham who at that time was governor of Barbados. Later he would become the commander of Suriname. In 1712 a Frenchman Jaques Cassard attacked the fort but he was chased away after a short skirmish but Cassard returned with reinforcements after four months. He captured the fort and demanded a very high compensation. Then the fort came into Dutch hands again.
The Dutch colonists established a trade post near the Indian village of Parmurbo, later Paramaribo. In order to defend the settlement a reinforcement was created.
Fort Zeelandia is located on the Suriname River side and was expanded with five bastions. Three of them, bastion Middelburgh, bastion Veere and bastion Zierikzee still exist the two that were built on the land side were removed when Fort Nieuw-Amsterdam was built where I will take you next time.
In the seventies Fort Zeelandia was turned into a museum. The Suriname Museum which had taken up residence in the complex could not stay very long because in 1980 army leader Desi Bouterse together with several others carried out a military coup. From 1982 Bouterse used Fort Zeelandia as his headquarters. The prosecutor of the military court in Suriname demanded 20 years in prison against Desi Bouterse for his role in the December murders.
In the Netherlands Fort Zeelandia is known for this event that took place. Fifteen critics of the military regime of Bouterse were shot there and is now known as the December murders. In the 90s the Fort was restored again and is now the location where the Suriname Museum again offers a fascinating glimpse of Suriname history in the fort. The Suriname people speak of 'the fort'. That is because Fort Zeelandia occupies an important place in Suriname history.
On the picture above you see the exact place where the critics were murdered. The bullet holes are in the wall.
The fort itself is a structure in the form of a pentagon with an extra triangular bastion at the three upper corners. On the square you see a five-pointed star. The fort has proved its service a few times - although it was not optimal as a defense construction.
The museum shows the history of the slave era. In 1808 the importation of slaves into Suriname was banned. However the illegal import of slaves continued until 1826. In this year a compulsory slave registration was introduced which meant that the illegal importation of slaves was no longer possible. The total number of slaves arrived in Suriname is estimated at about 300,000. Slavery was not abolished with the abolition of trade, that would only happen in 1863. For example you read that slavery was abolished in Suriname in 1808 but that is not true.
The old drugstore has been restored although you can no longer buy medicinal tinctures. You can see some famous dioramas by Gerrit Schouten. These dioramas are of paper three-dimensional representations that give a good picture of the life of the Maroons and Indians.
Everywhere where slavery prevailed the enslaved people tried to escape to build a new life far away from the plantations. Such groups were called 'maroons' and the many slaves who managed to flee in Suriname settled in various maroon tribes in the jungle. But that is not where this story ends.
Source: Suriname museum
Pictures: @Stranded
