Fort Piscadera

Fort Piscadera is located at the entrance to Piscadera Bay, west of Willemstad, on the Caribbean island of Curaçao, in the Dutch Antilles.

The first fortification at this site was likely built between 1701 and 1704 under Governor Van Beek. Due to a lack of maintenance, which was common at the time, it quickly fell into neglect.

In 1714, Governor Van Collen proposed that the West Indian Company rebuild Fort Piscadera to better defend the area. Although this was approved, it took some time before the work began. When completed, the fort had a rectangular star shape and was armed with 6 to 8 small-caliber cannons. The remains of this fort are what we see today.

In 1800, French troops captured Fort Sint Michiel. They were advancing towards Willemstad over land and would pass Fort Piscadera. However, the landward side of the fort was unprotected, and its defenses faced the sea. So the Dutch command ordered the soldiers at Fort Piscadera to dismantle the cannons, immobilize them, and take the gun carriages with them as they withdrew across the water to Willemstad. Unfortunately, the French advance was quicker than expected, leaving no time to immobilize the cannons. This mistake proved costly, as the French later used the cannons to bombard Willemstad.

After the French left, the fort was restored by Captain Gravenhorst under Governor Lauffer. At that time, Fort Piscadera was armed with 14 cannons: 6 eight-pounders, 4 twelve-pounders, and 4 eighteen-pounders.

In January 1804, a British invasion force of 120 seamen and 70 marines under Captain William Bligh (of Bounty fame) landed here and attacked the fort. Fort Piscadera was then occupied by 13 soldiers with 14 cannons. However, lacking ammunition, they fled to Willemstad.

When the fort returned to Dutch control, no maintenance was done, and by 1819, it had fallen into ruin. It was overgrown with brush until the 1950s, when it was restored.

Today, Fort Piscadera is located on the grounds of a hotel. Until a few years ago, it could be visited freely, but now the hotel has closed off its grounds, so it can only be visited as a guest. The fort itself is small and not much to see, but the nearby beach is very nice.

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