Welcome to Paramaribo, the capital and largest city of Suriname, set on the banks of the Suriname River. Locals affectionately call it Foto, and almost half of the country's people live here. The name comes from the Paramaribo people who lived at the mouth of the river, from Tupi Guarani words meaning large river and inhabitants. The first Dutch trading post here was founded in 1613, and English settlers arrived in 1650. Since 2002 the historic inner city has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Let's step into its wooden streets.
Centrum
Photo: Sharmil2672 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsHere in Centrum lies the historic heart of Paramaribo, with 291 listed monuments, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2002. The centre dates from the 17th and 18th centuries, and its streets follow a grid lined with wooden houses in a plain, symmetrical style. Why wood? There was no stone nearby, and the local clay was not suitable for bricks, so only important government buildings were made of stone shipped from the Netherlands. In 1821 a fire destroyed more than 400 buildings in the oldest part of town, which is why so many houses here date from the 19th century.
Fort Zeelandia
Photo: Junie609 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsOn the riverbank stands Fort Zeelandia. In 1640 the French built a wooden fort on this spot, which the English later reinforced as Fort Willoughby. In 1667 the Dutch admiral Abraham Crijnssen captured it after a battle lasting only three hours, when the English ran out of munitions, and he renamed it Fort Zeelandia. The fort also carries a darker memory: in the 1980s, under military rule, it was the site of the December murders of 1982, and political prisoners were held and tortured here.
Saint Peter and Paul Cathedral
Photo: Forrestjunky · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia CommonsLook up at the Cathedral of Saint Peter and Paul, a Roman Catholic cathedral built entirely of wood. Before it existed, the city's Catholics worshipped in a church adapted from a Dutch Jewish theatre. As the congregation grew too large, the diocese decided in 1882 to build a cathedral. It was consecrated in 1885, though the towers were not finished until 1901. In 2014 Pope Francis gave it the title of minor basilica.
Presidential Palace of Suriname
Photo: Ian Mackenzie from Ottawa, Canada · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia CommonsFacing Independence Square stands the Presidential Palace of Suriname, one of the finest examples of Dutch colonial architecture in the country and part of the UNESCO World Heritage inner city. The building grew from an older governor's palace, expanded in 1730. Over the years it gained a grand gallery and a third floor, but it only reached its present size in 1911, when the portico and terrace were added. Behind the palace lies the Garden of Palms.
Mosque Keizerstraat
Photo: Brokopondo · Public domain · Wikimedia CommonsOn Keizerstraat stands a mosque of the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement, which serves as its headquarters in Suriname. The Muslim community here was established in 1929, and its first mosque, a wooden building with minarets, was completed in 1932. The present mosque was completed in 1984. Here is a remarkable detail: the mosque stands right next door to the Neveh Shalom Synagogue, a striking picture of neighbours of different faiths. In 1979 the boxing legend Muhammad Ali visited the mosque.
Neveh Shalom Synagogue
Photo: Bart van Poll from All over Europe, Netherlands · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia CommonsNext door is the Neveh Shalom Synagogue, whose Hebrew name means house of peace. The plot at Keizerstraat 82 was acquired by Sephardi Jews in 1716, and the first building was completed in 1723. In 1735 the synagogue was sold to the Ashkenazi community, and the two communities went separate ways, before merging again in the 1990s. The building you see today, designed by J. F. Halfhide, was completed in 1842, and its construction began in the presence of Prince Henry of the Netherlands.
Lomakuume
