Map of Caracas Bay

Title Leupe: Plan van Caraques Bay, met het fort Beekenburgh.

In 1703, to protect the coastline east of Fort Amsterdam and Willemstad, construction of fort Beekenburg, built on a rocky headland on the eastern shore of Caracas Bay, commenced, following the completion in the preceding year of the small battery of De Uitkijk (The Lookout) situated a little farther to the south. Beekenburg protected both the bay itself with its various landing places and the narrow tongue of land between Caracas Bay and the Spaanse Water (Spanish Water), along which an enemy who had come ashore further eastwards could approach Willemstad. Partly as the result of a shortage of building materials, the original construction of Beekenburg appears to have taken quite a long time, but once completed, the fort proved to be virtually unassailable. Its design consisted of a massive tower with ten gun emplacements, with a lower bastion on the seaward side with another eight cannon.

This site map reproduces the entire bay and was made by naval Captain Cornelis Schrijver in the course of his 1737 tour of inspection. Among other matters, it shows soundings and relief.

North is lower right.

Scale-bar of 1200 ‘Tree’, of which 40 equals 90 Amsterdam feet = [approximately 1 : 3,420].