Fort Belgica
Fort Belgica | |
---|---|
General information | |
Architectural style | Dutch colonial |
Location | Banda Neira |
Construction started | 1611 |
Fort Belgica is a 17th-century fort in
History
Before Fort Belgica, there was a 16th-century Portuguese fort standing on a hill in Banda Neira. On September 4, 1611,
By the mid-seventeenth century earthquakes, the tropical monsoonal climate, and poor original construction materials and techniques had resulted in the structure becoming dilapidated.[4] In 1667, Governor Cornelis Speelman instructed Engineer Adriaan de Leeuw to redesign and reconstruct the fort. The result was the present "castle", the major modification works started in 1672 and was completed by 1673.[2] The new Fort Belgica was built from stone shipped to the island. The new design consisted of a low outer pentagonal structure with five angled corner bastions and a higher inner pentagon with five tall circular towers. It is the only fort of this kind throughout the Banda Islands.
Despite over 300,000
Partially demolished in 1904, it was incompletely rebuilt in 1919.
Layout
Fort Belgica sits on top of a hill on the southwestern part of the island Banda Neira. The fort overlooks Fort Nassau, lower on the foot of the hill to the south.
Fort Belgica is pentagonal in form. It consists of a low outer pentagonal structure and a higher inner pentagonal structure. A stairs access on the southernmost wall of the outer pentagon provides the sole point of entry to the fort. The lower pentagonal structure is equipped with five bastions, from the left-hand side of the access point: Galge punt, Moorsche punt, Leugenaar punt, Metaale punt, and Klokke punt, each equipped with a bartizan. The higher inner pentagonal structure housed several rooms which were arranged surrounding a pentagonal-shaped inner courtyard. Stairs in one of these rooms provide access to the top level.
World Heritage Status
In January 2015, Belgica Fort was added to the
See also
Citations
References
- ^ Hanna 1991, p. 31.
- ^ a b c d Groll 2002, p. 194.
- ^ a b Gagas Ulung 2011, p. 242.
- ^ van de Wall 1928, pp. 26–7.
- ^ van de Wall 1928, p. 29.
- ^ van de Wall 1928, p. 31.
- ^ UNESCO 2015.
Bibliography
- Gagas Ulung (2011). Extremely Beautiful Maluku. Backpacking and Traveling (in Indonesian). Jakarta: Gramedia Pustaka Utama. ISBN 9789792268089.
- ISBN 9789040087431.
- Hanna, Willard Anderson (1991). Indonesian Banda: Colonialism and Its Aftermath in the Nutmeg Islands. Yayasan Warisan dan Budaya Banda Naira.
- "The Historic and Marine Landscape of the Banda Islands". UNESCO. 2015. Retrieved November 18, 2015.
- van de Wall, V.I. (1928). De Nederlandsche Oudheden in de Molukken [Dutch Antiquities in the Moluccans] (in Dutch). 's-Gravenhage: Martinus Nijhoff.