Chobolobo

Chobolobo was earlier known as De (Grote) Zoutpan (The (Great) Salt Pan), Groote Pan, Groot Salienja, Goed Heenkomen or De Uitzicht. Although regarded as a salt plantation and formerly surrounded by many salt pans (saliña's), Chobolobo never saw significant salt harvests. Salt plantations were among the most flourishing enterprises of their time, but De Grote Zoutpan even fell into decline several times.

The name Saliña for this neighbourhood, however, is connected with the many salt pans that lay here. The water sometimes rose so high that a dam had to be built at Zeelandia: the Dam di Saliña. The dam is gone, but the name Saliña remained forever attached to this suburb of Willemstad. And on the filled-in salt pans a great deal has been built over the years. But back to the history for a moment.

Rachel Bueno Vivas

A well-known owner of De Zoutpan was Rachel Bueno Vivas, the widow of David de Isaac Bueno Vivas and one of the first Jewish families to settle in the Ruiterkwartier. In 1757 Rachel owned De Zoutpan and had 2 enslaved people. In 1763 she also bought the plantation Koningsplein, including 8 enslaved people. In addition, in 1772 she was the owner of the commercial ship Clara. After a year she sold Koningsplein again and bought a small piece of land "Eigen Verdriet" in the Ruiterkwartier and the piece of land Eendracht, also known as Coral Patín*, close to Sint Joris. In 1768 Rachel sold De Grote Zoutpan to Nicolaas Evertsz, a member of the well-known family of riders in "het Ruyter Quartier".

Sebollobo

In 1796 the mysterious name Sebollobo suddenly appears in sale documents when the free mulatto woman Anna Matthew buys the plantation. Sebollobo was subsequently corrupted to Chobolobo. It is assumed that Anna was of indigenous descent, given the similarity with Choloma (situated between Groot and Klein Sint Joris) and Chinchorro (Sint Joris), which are typical indigenous names. In the end "De Uitzicht" faded as the official name of the plantation that everyone now knows as Chobolobo.

The distillery for the production of Curaçao liqueur is housed in the plantation house of Chobolobo, where a 128-year-old still (boiler) is still used. So just as old as the liqueur itself. The distillery is visited every year by thousands of tourists, who at the end of the tour may also taste a sip of our famous liqueur.

*A patientje was formerly a coin. See also: The Ruiterkwartier and Klein Kwartier