Noordkant
On the middle terrace of the former plantation Noordkant, on the border with plantation Hato, lies the Gròt di Norkán — Cave of Noordkant — with a surface area of 12,490 square metres the largest cave on Curaçao.
Characteristic of the cave is the space extending in all directions at crawling height, interspersed with places where you can stand. There are also "rooms" with a hole in the "roof", the two largest of which also give access to the cave.
No picnic
The Gròt di Norkán is more than twice as large as that of Hato, which is 4,900 square metres and is operated as a tourist attraction.
At the Kueba di Noordkant such exploitation is not possible. It is also certainly no picnic: hard to reach from outside and, inside, little room because of the low ceiling, so that one must crawl — sometimes also in the dark — through passages covered in bat droppings. Bat droppings can moreover cause the dreaded "cave disease", a kind of lung infection. Because the cave extends in all directions, navigation is not easy, and GPS of course does not work underground!
Cave phosphate was once found in the Gròt di Norkan, but exploitation proved unprofitable. Old tools such as drill chisels, rods and a jack that miners left behind in the cave still recall this adventure.
At the foot of the middle terrace opposite the cave lies a "sunken forest" with a gigantic manzaliña tree.
Indians
Research by Father Paul Brenneker and the biologist H.E. Cooman in 1958 and 1959 shows that Noordkant may have been an Indian dwelling place. Unlike other plantations on the north coast, such as Sint Joris and Hato, no archaeological research has been done here into possible remains of the indigenous population. But the most important and most fish-rich "boca" (inlet) of Noordkant does bear the Indian name "Shankúri".
Norkán
The former plantation Noordkant, popularly Norkán, lies on the wild north coast of Curaçao. It is bounded in the east and south-east by Brievengat and in the south by Schelpwijk and Rancho. The address of the landhuis is Rancho z/n. In the north it borders the coast and in the west plantation Hato. With 593 hectares of land it was one of the larger plantations in the former east division of the island.
Livestock plantation
Plantation Noordkant was laid out on the low terrace and on the edge of the middle terrace. On the high terrace, which lies further to the west and whose original name is Seru di Waterloo, stand the villas of Sunset Heights.
Noordkant was probably laid out as a plantation from the beginning by the directors of the West India Company, the WIC, or their associates.
Around 1700 it was in any case a livestock plantation of the WIC with enslaved people and an extensive herd of cattle, sheep and goats. In 1707 and 1710 the WIC tried to sell the plantation, however without result. Until 1795 the WIC remained owner of Noordkant, and leased the plantation to planters such as Pieter de Mey — after whom Pietermaai is named — who planted here and also kept some livestock.
Noordkant kept the character of a livestock plantation throughout the years. Thus an advertisement of 18 June 1820 announces that the plantation will be auctioned and that it has the privilege of keeping cow, goat and sheep corrals.
Farming on rocky ground
After the plantation was laid out, development of the terrain for farming began immediately. Despite the predominantly rocky soil, the plantation nevertheless had two very fertile strips of farmland, one west of the landhuis and the other at the foot of the middle terrace. Along the rock face of this middle terrace there is in fact a fairly thick fertile humus layer on the limestone base. In 2011 the Werkgroep Archeologie found here a round water tank that is, as far as is known, unique, dating — judging by the way it was built — from at least the 19th century. Of more recent date, remains of a plough and an unidentified agricultural machine also lay here.
Landhuis Noordkant
The landhuis is fairly small, simple and characteristic, with a fine view of the wild sea on the north coast. The middle section, with a saddle roof, is perhaps the oldest part, probably dating from before 1800. On the façade of the gable of this central section 1857 is engraved, probably the year in which the landhuis was rebuilt.
It has a fresh attic with 4 windows, an extension in the south and in the north the kitchen, with chimney and an attached rain-tank building. The rain tank is in turn connected via an aqueduct to a large mangazina with a saddle roof a little further away. Thus all the water from the landhuis and the mangazina ran to this rain-tank building. Evidently a great deal of attention was paid to collecting rainwater when the landhuis was built. The mangazina stands north of the landhuis with in front of it 2 wells, which are however hidden behind vegetation.
The landhuis also has an open courtyard on the north-east where a mango tree provides extra shade.
Two cemeteries
Landhuis Noordkant was still restored around 1980. The windows and doors with traditional shutters were replaced by arched openings that were never closed. The empty landhuis was still painted around 1990 for organising Halloween parties.
In the south-west corner a few clearly recognisable cattle corrals still stand, and on the south side of the landhuis there is a second mangazina.
North of the landhuis, very close by, a cemetery once stood. The place is still called Santana. The Piedra di Santana, the cemetery stone, stands there too. In the western part of the same plantation, at Soleana, there was another cemetery.
The old access road to the landhuis runs from the Gosieweg to the north and is also the boundary road between Rancho and Schelpwijk. Plantation Noordkant is, however, private terrain.
Owners
According to the author Els Langenfeld, Abraham Pinedo, owner of Koningsplein, bought plantation Noordkant on 16 January 1811. His widow already sold the plantation on 20 March 1812 to Constantinus Schotborgh. And on 6 December 1821 Constantinus Schotborgh sold the plantation again to the widow of Abraham Pinedo, Ribca, or Rebecca. From then on she managed both plantations again. In 1828 she is still mentioned as owner and has 31 enslaved people at work, 7 or 8 of them at Koningsplein and the rest at Noordkant, which was a much larger plantation. In 1830 she sold Noordkant to Mozes de Marchena jr.
The De Windt family
Mozes de Marchena sold the plantation in 1831 to Alexander Evertsz, who was also appointed district master for the district Noordkant. He once had to appear before the fiscal, that is: he was arrested, but for what is not known. Evertsz sold the plantation in 1838 to Elisabeth Mercelina de Windt and Hendrik Daniël de Windt plus Mozes de Marchena jr. The latter sold his share in the plantation in 1844 to Elisabeth Mercelina de Windt. It is striking that the same families sold the estate and then bought it back again. Until in 1838 it came into the hands of the De Windt family, and up to now, as of 2026, has remained in their possession.
Reportedly the progenitor of the De Windt family, Willem, settled on plantation Koningsplein after he had been involved in the Battle of Waterloo (1815). He had a family consisting of 12 sons and a daughter. From Koningsplein the family bought, besides Noordkant, among others the former plantations Waterloo (!) — now known as Sun Valley and Sunset Heights — Rancho and Rooi Canarie with Suffisant. Together they ultimately formed one enormous contiguous area in the then middle division of Curaçao.
Parish of Santa Rosa
The Catholic Hendrik Daniël and his sisters Elisabeth Mercelina and Helena Paulina were active members of the parish of Santa Rosa, to which Noordkant then still belonged. Hendrik Daniël — "Hein" — was personally good friends with pastor Putman of Santa Rosa and not only helped with collecting money for the construction of a church, but in 1838 also sent material, enslaved people and means of transport to help Putman with the building. According to the church books of Santa Ana he was married around 1820 to Theodora Damoe, or D'Amour, a Frenchwoman from Haiti.
The landhuis was still inhabited in 1982 by the De Windt family, who also ran a quarry. When the quarry closed, the ruins of which can still be seen north-west of the landhuis, the landhuis was left behind with, among other things, all the furniture. The "set di sala", the sitting-room set, was carried away on donkey backs by boys from Schelpwijk and now stands in the small museum Labizjan at Tera Kòrá.
Laurens, a son of Hendrik Daniël and Maria Damoe, was the last known owner of Waterloo. At the entrance of the new neighbourhood Sun Valley lies the little cemetery of this family, the — so far — last owners of Noordkant.
The boka's of Plantation Noordkant
The boca's that lie on Noordkant are, from east to west:
- Boka Santu Pretu, an inlet with black sand, on the border with plantation Brievengat, which is very fish-rich;
- Shankúri, an Indian name for one of the most fish-rich spots on the North Coast, with large schools of bait fish that bring many deep-sea fish, and also sharks, close to the coast. Striking at Shankúri is that there is a lot of sand below sea level, which gives the water a very distinct, special shade of blue that visibly distinguishes itself from the surroundings. The abundant sand forms the perfect hang-out for certain fish species;
- Skonde Friu — shelter from the cold — is also mentioned by Brenneker as an important fishing spot. It is less productive than Shankúri and nowadays less known to the rock fishermen of Noordkant.
Remarkable names
Three remarkable names for the three bays of Noordkant.
But at other locations of the former plantation too, striking names occur, the meaning of which is not always known. Brenneker has documented them in any case, and from roughly east to west they are:
Costa di Norkan — the Coast of Noordkant — the easternmost part of the plantation, east of Boka di Santu Pretu. Karké and Hoffie Ariba also lie on the north coast in the east of the plantation. In the low-lying part in the east lies Cunucu largu, long knoek.
On the north coast further lie Plata hundu (deep plate), Bou di Plata — below or west of the plate — and Awa Blanku (white water). Lugá maluku (awkward place) also lies on the coast, close to Buraku di piskechi, a hole on the north coast west of Awa Blanku. Piskechi is a small fish. Also on the north coast, close to Lugá Maluku, lies Banki* di robekki, the Red-mouth fish ledge.
Marsbanker became "Masbangu"
And Buraku di Masbangu is an inlet on the north coast. Masbangu is a corruption of "marsbanker", a small fish species that swims around in schools, is often caught in drag nets and is a delicacy for many islanders. West of Buraku di Masbangu and north-east of the landhuis lies a bare spot called Kabes limpi — bald head.
North of the knoek and also north of the landhuis lies Laba Cueru (wash hides), where animal hides were probably cleaned. Noordkant was after all a livestock plantation. Labadera — washing place — also lies on the coast.
On the north coast at Noordkant there are also various little hills of stone with a cross as a sign that someone, often a coastal fisherman, drowned there.
Also characteristic of the coast at Noordkant are will-o'-the-wisps and sounds of spirits: enslaved people who wanted to commit suicide often came to the north coast for that, and so also to Noordkant.
West of Noordkant
In the west of the plantation lie the hill Seru di Gandjiu and the locations Ca'i Martins (house of Martinus) and Pos blanku, or White Well, a small natural water reservoir. North of Pos blanku lies Pos di Wau, and further also Tanki Merikano, where Americans had built a tank.
Also in the west and on the coast lie Bordo meimei — middle rock edge — and Banki Plat. Finally, in the far west of the plantation lie the locations Shankuri and Tumbánga.
Close to the landhuis
Ma Keke lies north-west of the landhuis. West of the landhuis lie Tanki di Pos Sabana, a natural water reservoir, and Serka di Hoeki. South-east and south-west of the landhuis lie respectively Cueba chiki, Small cave, and Cueba grandi — Large cave, or the Gròt di Norkán.
The ridge
The ridge at Noordkant also has various names, such as Tera blanku, White earth, a part of the ridge in the middle and south of Noordkant, at the start of the road to the landhuis. Seru di Pietermaai is the part of the ridge where the road descends to the landhuis and refers to the former tenant of the plantation, Pieter de Mey. Peiladó — lookout post — and Soleana are parts of the ridge, east and west of the landhuis respectively.
Noordkant for sale
The plantation is currently — August 2026 — for sale as "A rare piece of Curaçao on the rugged north coast, with a surface area of approximately 569 hectares and more than 7 kilometres of continuous coastline between the road to Playa Kanoa and the Weg naar Shut.
It is freehold land, total 5,684,670 m², with the applicable conservation zoning framework, and the asking price is XCG 7,000,000, subject to court approval."
*A "banki" is a lower, protruding rock on the coast on which one can stand at low tide to fish. Contrary to what the name suggests, you cannot sit here without running the risk of being swept away by an unexpectedly high wave.
Sources
- Reports of the Archaeological Working Group: Plantage Noordkant
- Nooijen, N.: de geschiedenis van plantage Koningsplein
- Nooijen, N.: Van Bellefaas Martis tot Angel Obia
- van Ditzhuijzen, J.: Landhuizen van Curaçao
- Renkema, W.J.: Het Curaçaose plantagebedrijf in de negentiende eeuw
- Brenneker, P.: Sambumbu, various editions
- Domicillie Real Estate
- Langenfeld, E. & van der Lee, T.: Inventaris eigenaars van plantages, landhuizen en tuintjes van Curaçao
With thanks to: André Rancuret, Frensel Mercelina, François van der Hoeven, the Archaeological Working Group, Jeroen Heuvel and Mongui Maduro Library.
