Santa Rosa: Local Cultural History

Café Santa Rosa: Local History

Café Santa Rosa, also known as Shap Martins Oranjeboom, is a protected monument because of its cultural and historical value. It was built in 1943 during the Second World War. During this wartime period, it played an important role in the lives of residents of Sta. Rosa and other visitors. Its construction date and historical role offer two concrete ways to explore local history: its origins in a particular period and the café’s significance in the life of the community. If you are considering Santa Rosa as a destination for a hotel stay, you can take this focus on local history into account when choosing where to stay.

A 2011 government profile describes Santa Rosa as the location of one of Curaçao’s oldest Shap cafés. “Shap” was an earlier term for a traditional local bar. The term adds a historical name for this type of establishment to its building history. The profile also cites Shap Martins Oranjeboom’s role in spreading news and the café’s largely original condition as reasons for its designation as a protected monument. Its historical function and physical condition are therefore two distinct reasons for its monument status.

Curaçao: A Complementary Look at Culture and Nature

In Willemstad, Punda is the oldest district. It developed in the 17th century on the eastern side of Sint Anna Bay, beside Fort Amsterdam, and was the city’s only district with a defensive system of walls and ramparts. Punda therefore offers a different focus for urban history than the history of Café Santa Rosa: here, the story is about the development and fortification of an entire district.

The museums also offer different perspectives. The Savonet Museum tells the story of the Savonet plantation and the adjacent Savonet area in a 19th-century plantation house. The Curaçao Museum presents geological history, pre-Columbian artifacts, and maps and illustrations of the Americas and the Caribbean. It also features information about the occupations, beliefs, and way of life of Afro-Curaçaoans after the abolition of slavery, as well as a traditional plantation kitchen. The topics thus range from the history of a plantation area to geological, archaeological, and social aspects.

There are different routes and landscapes to explore for nature. In Christoffel National Park, the northern route (blue) and mountain route (green) are paved and can be driven in any car. Bromeliads, orchids, lichens, and Spanish moss grow along a hiking trail in the park. In Shete Boka National Park, visitors can walk above the cave along the limestone cliffs. These examples bring together a route for cars, plants along a hiking trail, and the option of walking above a cave.

Hato Cave covers an area of 4,900 m² and contains limestone formations, pools, a waterfall, and a statue of the Madonna. A colony of long-nosed fruit bats also lives in Hato Caves, though they are rarely seen. Hòfi Mango Park offers a different nature focus: it was once a plantation and has more than 700 mango trees. The cave’s features and wildlife thus sit alongside the park’s former use and its trees.

Historic buildings and production are also among the topics to explore in Curaçao. Landhuis Chobolobo is a 19th-century country house where, among other things, Blue Curaçao liqueur is made. This focus connects the history of a building with a specific product.

For a broader travel overview: Willemstad.