Fort Beeckenburg - Caracas Bay, Curacao
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Raven
N 12° 04.351 W 068° 51.718
19P E 515022 N 1334576
Fort Beeckenburg (a.k.a. "Beekenburg") is an 18th century Dutch fort located on a rocky outcrop by Caracas Bay, a small bay on the southeastern side of the Dutch Caribbean island of Curacao. It is one of the best-preserved forts on the island.
Waymark Code: WM102MR
Location: Curaçao
Date Posted: 02/13/2019
Views: 1
Fort Beekenburg (also spelled as "Beeckenburg" is older Dutch) is an 18th century Dutch fort located on a rocky outcrop by Caracas Bay, a small bay on the southeastern side of the Dutch Caribbean island of Curacao. It is one of the best-preserved forts on the island, and proved its service several times during multiple skirmishes with the English in the earlier part of the 19th century.
The fort was built in 1703 to protect the entrance to Spanish Water Bay, another nearby inlet. Its main focal point is a round tower built out of stones originally brought over from the Netherlands as ballast. The tower's armament consisted of 6 8-pound and 4 12-pound cannons, while a nearby battery -- now destroyed -- was armed with a pair of 12-pound and 2 18-pounds cannons.
The fort laid mostly unused during its first 100 years except for sporadic events: it would frequently ward off small attacks from English warships, French buccaneers and the occasional pirates.
In 1800, however, the island of Curacao was taken over by the English and the fort was passed over to a detachment of English Marines from the corvette "Nimrod". Both the island and the fort were returned to the Dutch in 1803, but in 1805 a new war with the English ensued: the fort successfully repelled two naval attacks that year.
In 1807, the island of Cuaraco surrendered to the English once again. This time, however, the Dutch commander refused to turn the fort over to the English: he was eventually overpowered by his own men who then opened the gates and deserted. The island quickly returned to Dutch hands once again a few years later, at which point the fort served as a Dutch military outpost until the 1850’s.
Between 1927 and 2005 the fort was off-limits to visitors as its surrounding terrain was owned by an Oil Company. It is now freely accessible to all: one can climb all the way to the top of the tower and see several remaining cannons, as well as fantastic views across the bay towards both land and sea.
For more information about the fort, see: (
visit link)
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The stamp displayed as the waymark's default image was issued by the Netherlands Antilles on May 9, 1999 as a set of 5 stamps to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Curacao's recorded history. The Netherlands Antilles dissolved in 2010, so now Curacao is actually a separate country. More information about this particular stamp can be found on the following Collectors Portal
webpage.
Another stamp in recognition of Fort Beekenburg (this time spelled in "newer" Dutch) was issued back in 1953 to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the fort's founding. The angle from which this photogravure was made is quite trickier to replicate nowadays (given restricted access to a nearby pier), unless you have a means of traveling by boat towards the fort's outcrop. More information on that particular stamp can also be found on the following Collectors Portal
webpage.