Fort Amsterdam

Fort Amsterdam guards the Punda entrance to St Anna Bay and is the oldest seat of power on the island. The Dutch West India Company began building it in 1635, soon after taking Curaçao, and its thick ochre walls enclose a quiet courtyard that has been the centre of government for nearly four centuries. Today it houses the Governor's offices and government ministries, so it remains a living administrative heart rather than a museum-piece ruin.

Inside the walls stands the Fort Church, a Dutch Protestant church dating from the 18th century, which now contains a small museum of maps, silver, and church relics that trace the story of the fort and the colony. The most famous detail is outside: a British cannonball is still lodged in the church's southwest wall, fired during a brief British attack and left in place ever since.

Part of UNESCO Willemstad

Fort Amsterdam anchors the historic core of Willemstad that earned the city its UNESCO World Heritage listing. From the bastions you look across the harbour mouth and over to Otrobanda. It sits a short stroll from the Queen Emma Bridge and the Punda shopping streets, so it slots easily into a walking tour of the old town.

• The courtyard and exterior are free to wander; the Fort Church museum charges a small entry fee.
• Look for the cannonball in the church wall, a much-photographed quirk of the fort.

Visit on a weekday morning when government buildings are open and the light is soft, dress respectfully as it is an active seat of government, and combine it with the synagogue and the Handelskade waterfront nearby.