Famous Landmarks in Paramaribo
Timber Dutch colonial landmarks line a UNESCO-listed river-port centre.
Paramaribo's protected landmarks cluster in the historic inner city beside the Suriname River, the core that earned UNESCO recognition in 2002. Timber remains the material that defines much of the skyline: the Saint Peter and Paul Cathedral is built almost entirely of wood, its Gothic Revival towers rising above streets of matching colonial houses. Older still is Fort Zeelandia, begun as a stronghold in 1640 and passed between French, British and Dutch hands before taking its present name in 1667. Facing the main square, the Presidential Palace applies the same Dutch Baroque idiom to government rather than worship or defence, its grounds opening onto a garden of palms behind. Together the three span roughly three centuries of colonial building.
Saint Peter and Paul Cathedral
1885–1901
Built almost entirely of wood rather than stone, it carries pointed Gothic Revival windows and two matching towers rising side by side above the surrounding streets.
The cathedral replaced an earlier Catholic church adapted in 1826 from a Dutch Jewish theatre built in 1809, which had grown too small for the congregation. The diocese decided to build a new church in 1882; it was consecrated in 1885, though its two towers were not finished until 1901. A major restoration was completed in 2010, after which the building reopened, and in 2014 Pope Francis raised its status to that of a minor basilica.
- Its congregation had previously worshipped in a converted Dutch Jewish theatre originally built in 1809.
- The two towers were not completed until 1901, sixteen years after the building itself was consecrated.
- Pope Francis designated it a minor basilica in 2014.
Photo: Davidsoe (shifted by Rabanus Flavus) (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Fort Zeelandia
1667
What stands today is the fortification rebuilt and renamed by the Dutch after 1667, occupying the same ground as the original 1640 timber fort raised by French settlers and later reinforced under British rule.
The fort began in 1640 as a wooden stronghold built by French settlers on the site. During a period of British colonial control it was strengthened and known as Fort Willoughby. The Dutch captured it in 1667 and gave it the name it still carries today. Long used for defence and administration, the fort is now protected as a cultural heritage monument, its history tracing the succession of colonial powers that once held the settlement.
- The fort began in 1640 as a wooden stronghold built by French colonists.
- Under British rule it was known as Fort Willoughby, decades before it was renamed under Dutch control in 1667.
Photo: Loek Tangel (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Presidential Palace of Suriname
1730
Fronted in the Dutch Baroque style considered one of the best-preserved examples of Dutch colonial architecture in the country, it forms one side of a large public square and opens at the rear onto a garden of palm trees.
Facing Independence Square, alongside the National Assembly, the Congress building, the Court of Justice and the Ministry of Finance, the palace serves as the official residence of the head of state. Built in the Dutch Baroque style, it is considered one of the best-preserved examples of Dutch colonial architecture in the country. The Garden of Palms lies behind it, and the building forms part of the UNESCO-listed historic inner city.
Photo: Ian Mackenzie from Ottawa, Canada (CC BY 2.0)
History
Paramaribo grew up on the bank of the Suriname River as a Dutch colonial port, and its oldest surviving structure begins the story: a fort raised by French settlers in 1640, reinforced under British rule as Fort Willoughby, then captured and renamed Fort Zeelandia when the Dutch took the colony in 1667. Government building followed around a new central square, where the Presidential Palace displays the Dutch Baroque style favoured for official architecture. As the Catholic population outgrew its converted theatre chapel, the diocese commissioned a new wooden cathedral in 1882, consecrated in 1885 and completed with its towers in 1901. That mix of fort, palace and church, largely intact, underpins the historic inner city's UNESCO World Heritage listing since 2002.