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Willemstad| Port and capital of the Netherlands Antilles, in the Caribbean Sea, on the southwest coast of the island of Curaçao, of which it is the chief town; population (1997) 52,000. Its port is used by cruise ships and it has a large oil refinery. |
Features Many of Willemstad's buildings are painted in pastel colours and, with their gables and arcades, show the influence of 17th-century Dutch-style architecture. The city is divided by Santa Anna Bay which is spanned by the floating Queen Emma Bridge. |
| The pontoon Queen Emma Bridge opens to let ships pass in and out of the harbour and can be crossed on foot but is not open to traffic. At the east end of the bridge is the 18th-century Fort Amsterdam, in and around which are many banks and institutions. The Queen Juliana Bridge, completed in 1974, also links the two parts of the city and is open to traffic. There is also a statue of the 16th-century governor Peter Stuyvesant in the town. |
| The Mikvé Israel-Emanuel synagogue, built in 1634, is said to be the oldest in the Western hemisphere, and one of the finest surviving examples of Dutch colonial architecture. There is a museum attached to the synagogue. |
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