Curacao, the largest island in the Dutch Antilles, is a cosmopolitan kaleidoscope of people. The protected harbors, the blue waters and the coral reefs will delight tourists (map)

Curacao is the most important of the Dutch Antilles, and the home of more than 150,000 people, coming from all corners of the world. The fascinating architecture of the colonial buildings, next to the crystalline water harbors, and the coral reefs in front of the coast, are some of the major attractions of this island. Its capital, Willemstad, is like a little tropical Amsterdam, streets with precious buildings constructed with a fascinating mixture of Caribbean colonial style, and the elegant Dutch architecture style.

In the year 1499, the Spaniard Alonso de Ojeda was the first European to land in this rocky island, located in front of the northern coast of South America. Though many years before his landing in Curacao, to this place had arrived from the South American continent, a very tall Indian tribe known as caiquetios, because of their height the Spaniard conqueror called Curacao, “the island of the giants”. Ojeda and his men arrived to the island hoping to find the legendary El Dorado, so as they couldn’t, they only established some cattle farms. In the XVII century, the Dutch used a natural port with deep waters, to built a military base in Schottegat that very soon grew in importance as commercial center.

Due to the arid land of this island, agriculture wasn’t profitable, so the pioneers (most of them Jewish families from Amsterdam, and northern Brazil) dedicated to the trade of indigo, cotton, tobacco and … slaves.

After suffering the hardness and inhuman conditions of the trip from the other side of the Atlantic, the hundreds of thousands African slaves arriving to Curacao, were “refreshed” in the fields around Willemstad, before being sold, as cattle, at the slave market. This cruel practice continued till the first decades of the XVIII century. In 1795, a violent slave revolt did not altered the situation, because the leaders, called Tula and Carpata, were executed alongside other 25 slaves by Dutch soldiers. The definitive abolition of slavery in the Dutch Antilles was in 1863.

The island’s economy benefited with the opening of a great oil refinery, near Schottegat, dedicated to refining crude oil coming from the Maracaibo lake, in Venezuela. However, since the oil crisis in the 1980’s, Curacao has struggled to obtain the petrodollars originally planned. Tourism, then, is now one of the most important income sources of the island, along with the establishment of lots of international service companies, and a modern port. Around 200,000 tourists each year choose Curacao to spend their vacations, and cruisers bring to this exotic island some 160,000 more.

A Small Tropical Amsterdam
Willemstad, is the noisy capital of Curacao, and has a population of 125,000 people. Those going to Curacao, will be impress by the beauty of the restored colonial buildings, painted with joyful colors, dating back to the XVI and XIX centuries. In this city are magnificent red roof houses, were old traders lived, buildings with stuccowork fronts, three well preserved forts and large churches. Walking by the picturesque small streets, you can still breathe its old colonial splendor.

The streets in the capital are organized around Schottegat, a great sea arm of deep waters, providing a perfectly protected port, with Sint Annabaai as a narrow entrance. A walk by Punda will allow you to discover the historical center of Willemstad. Streets here and in Otrabanda are almost pedestrians, flanked by pretty cafes and bars.

Sacred Treasures
One of the places with great historic interest is the Mikveh Israel Emanuel synagogue, used without interruption since it was built in 1732. The sea fearing pioneers coming from Amsterdam and northern Brazil, founded the Mikveh Israel community (Hope of Israel) in the XVII century. The guard next to the door, in the Hanchi di Snoa, is the only external sign indicating something special is hidden behind the tall yellow walls of the synagogue. The white walls, the blue windows and austere furniture of dark mahogany tree, contrast between them in a pleasant way inside three naves; the great bronze candelabrums come from a handicraft workshop of Amsterdam, and the fancy sand on the floor is the symbol of the exodus of the ancient Hebrew people along the Sinai desert. The central courtyard is rounded by the ritual baths building or mikvah, of more than 200 years old, and by two restored residential buildings, that now host the Jewish History Museum (open from Monday to Friday; close in national and Jewish holidays; entrance fee). In this museum are exposed valuable rolls of the Law (Torá), seven arms candelabrums and lots of ancient objects that were property of the influential families Luckmann and Maduro. Along the courtyard walls, you can see copies of the ancient graves of the Jewish cemetery of Beth Chaim, outside the city.