Ronde Klip
The most striking thing about the former plantation Ronde Klip is the plantation house, built in a unique monumental classicist style. The oldest part consists of two storeys and dates from 1860. The most recent addition is the impressive, generous approach to the terrace and the front resting on six pillars, built in 1904.
After Santa Barbara it was the largest plantation in the east division, as much as 825 hectares, and was already mentioned in 1725 in connection with the "privilege of grazing livestock". Ronde Klip had a large herd of livestock, aloe was grown there, but cotton, especially around 1820, was the most important product the plantation yielded.
Ronde Klip lies on the north coast, west of Santa Catharina, likewise a former cotton plantation. The plantations were sometimes merged in the past, and Hermina Adriana Price of Santa Catharina was once married to Doctor Jacob Bennebroek Forbes, then owner of Ronde Klip.
The plantation was in the possession of the Forbes family for 40 years. Both Doctor Waters Forbes and his son Jacob, also a physician, were strongly Catholic-minded: for more than five years stones were hewn from Ronde Klip and carried in procession on people's heads to Santa Rosa for the construction of the church. The Forbes family also allowed their enslaved people to gather every week for religious instruction by pastor Putman of Santa Rosa. The Forbes family sold the estate in 1875 to Jacob Naar.
Brothers and Sophia Loren
In 1937 monseigneur Verriet wanted to buy Ronde Klip to set up a work camp for boys here. He later decided to carry out this plan at Brakkeput in cooperation with the Crusaders of Saint John — alias Brudernan di Brakapoti — who had settled there.
After the Second World War there were plans to establish a luxurious hotel in the landhuis, but in hindsight it proved to lie too far from the city and the sea.
Landhuis Ronde Klip was in 1979 the setting for the filming of Firepower, a British thriller starring Sophia Loren, James Coburn, O.J. Simpson and Eli Wallach. The plantation house fell into decay years later. It was restored again in 2002 and even received an architecture prize for it.
Seru Mandinga
The plantation is named after the striking landmark, the Ronde Klip (Round Rock), a conspicuous round limestone hill (129 m high) that is round when seen from the north but more oval when seen from the south. In popular speech it is called Ronduklé or also Seru Mandinga, after a tribe in West Africa known for its iron-strong and combative men. On the hill, large mandinga crabs were caught in the evenings. Ronde Klip also contains the Buraku di Mandinga, which is said to have been dug by enslaved people.
Ronde Klip has a coral-limestone cap — one of the oldest on Curaçao. Because of this cap it is called a witness hill (getuigeberg): the flat coral cap is proof that the island once lay under water. The rest of the hill consists of lava formation. The limestone cap is a favourite place of iguanas, which like to lay their eggs there.
At the foot of Ronde Klip clay, binding and colouring agent was dug up for the potteries at Tra'i Seru and Kirindongo.
Phosphate
On the west and south side of the hill, directly below the top, there are three short horizontal trial mine galleries and at least one mine shaft. These were dug in the 19th century by the Ronde Klip Mining Company of John Godden. This English mining engineer had earlier already become a millionaire thanks to phosphate that he exploited at Santa Barbara and on Klein Curaçao. In those days phosphate — which was used as fertiliser — was the white gold on Curaçao, and people looked in vain for this raw material at Ronde Klip too. Of the three mine galleries on the hill, two are passable, one of which is longer than 30 m.
They were probably dug with the aid of explosives. The Archaeological Working Group found on the plateau behind the landhuis ruins of two little storehouses where explosives were kept. The little buildings are built of limestone and have only one entrance and no windows. On the plantation explosives were also used in limestone extraction on the high terrace.
Hofjes
Ronde Klip is one large fertile valley where various kunuku's had formerly been laid out in connection with the various rooien that run through the area. And the plantation still consists mainly of grounds on which farming is actively practised.
In the east of the estate lies a very fertile terrain that formerly yielded large watermelons which had to be carried away by pick-up.
The hofje belonging to the landhuis lies west of the plantation house. It was entirely destroyed by tropical storm Tomas in 2010 and is nowadays still in use as a camping ground for young people. The shons of Ronde Klip had their own burial ground, near the hofje and between four pokhout trees (wayaká), a spot where scouts now camp. The landhuis was also once assigned to the scouting movement because the government had no purpose for it.
Old names
The successive overseers, vitó, of Ronde Klip kept a book in which everything about the plantation was written down for years: how the locations got their names, what was smuggled and where, how many enslaved people were beaten daily and why. The last shon of Ronde Klip, however, set the book on fire together with some household effects from the landhuis.
Thanks to Brenneker, a part of the old names has nevertheless been preserved, such as Rooi di Hermaanchi (a fish) on the north coast at Ronde Klip and Jaujau, which lies south of the landhuis and means stony ground. North of the landhuis lies a dam called Kípido and a piece of land that was called Malpais.
The area behind Ronde Klip no. 6 was formerly said to be called Kurá di katibu (slave yard), and remains of it are said to be still visible.
Boka di Hala Canoa is a large inlet on the north coast and in the west of Ronde Klip.
Impressive cave
A sand road runs along the landhuis leading to the sea. On this road two ruins can be found of the little houses where explosives were very probably kept in connection with the mining activities on the Ronde Klip hill.
The cave of Ronde Klip is one of the largest on the island and has — as far as is known — the largest number of Indian drawings. As many as 69 drawings were registered by working-group members in 1989. Some are somewhat faded, but most can still be seen clearly.
Trial excavations were also carried out in the cave in 1951, but no artefacts of the original population were found. This could be an indication that the cave was used by them but not inhabited.
The cave is wide and high, you can walk upright in it, and it is nicely lit and ventilated by the various natural windows. It lies on the old plantation in the plain between the Middle and Low Terrace, at a good distance from the Ronde Klip hill.
Sources
- Reports including photos: Archeologische Werkgroep: Ronde Klip, parts 1 and 2
- Photo of mine gallery: Noraly Lovert
- D. Huygers and L. Ezechiëls: Landhuizen op Curaçao
- Gill: Een eeuw architectuur op Curaçao
- Hartog: Geschiedenis van de Nederlandse Antillen, part 3
- Brenneker: Sambumbu, various editions
- Ministerie S.O.A.W.: Buurtprofiel Ronde Klip
With thanks to François van der Hoeven, André Rancuret, Mongui Maduro Library, Historisch Archief and Openbare Bibliotheek.
