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Fort Zeelandia (including Court of Policy Building)

Property names are listed in the language in which they have been submitted by the State Party.

Guyana (Latin America and the Caribbean)
Date of Submission: 15/11/1995
Criteria: (iii)
Category: Cultural
Submitted by: Guyana Commission for UNESCO
Coordinates: Georgetown, Guyana Long. 58°30' Lat. 6°45'
Ref.: 273

Description

The two structures, Fort Zeelandia and the Court of Policy Building are separated by about 10 minutes walk.

The two should be considered together. The Fort itself was built circa 1743 whilst the Court Policy was built the same time- the latter is reputedly the oldest building in Guyana.

(1) Fort Zeelandia

Relatively small; the lozenge-shaped two storey redoubt is about 15m x 20m. The redoubt is enclosed by ramparts with four bastions (at each corner) - the river side rampart has fallen into the river, however. The total area to outside of ramparts is 56m x 78m. Bricks are used throughout

(2) Court of Policy Building

This is a solid clay brick building 31,1m long and 11.0m wide. The walls are 61 cm thick. There are three "rooms"-the central is the church, the northern was the Court of Policy and the southern was used for auctioning slaves.