Sòrsaka

Mango. That would have been a more fitting name for this former plantation, which lies west of Jan Thiel. Among the many fruit trees that stood here, there must surely also have been soursop. In the past, Sòrsaka and Zuikertuintje were known as the fruit gardens of Curaçao.

Still, it is not known whether many soursops were picked at Sòrsaka. What is certain is that in a good year 50,000 mangoes were harvested here. Thousands of mangoes were shipped to town daily at fls 0.50 to fls 2.00 per 100, and in 1902 there were even some exports to New York!

Anyway, Sorsaka is the name, derived from Soursack Thuin, as the Dutch occupiers already called it in 1655. At the very bottom left of the fence on the west side of the manor house, the name is still written as Zorzaka. In old documents it is also written as Soursack Thuin (1655), Suursak (1826), Soorzak, Soorsack or Sorsáca. In common speech it is still Sòrsaka.

Superfood

The sòrsaka, soursop or Annona muricata, is a small tree with large, glossy, fragrant (healing) leaves and large dark green fruits with soft, tasty white flesh. It is now considered a superfood that, among other things, kills cancer cells and fights inflammation.

According to Brenneker, the Sòrsaka estate was traditionally an Indigenous dwelling place, and later became the name of one of the oldest plantations on Curaçao. It lies southwest of Jan Tiel, east of Bottelier and south of Scherpenheuvel.

Slave camp

From 1640, the most important fully walled camp for enslaved people was set up at plantation Sòrsaka. The idea of establishing an entrepôt here came from Peter Stuyvesant, then director of Curaçao and also the initiator of establishing the slave trade on Curaçao. Enslaved people who had survived the exhausting two-month sea voyage were taken from the ship's hold in the harbor and sold immediately. The rest had to walk from the harbor along the Penstraat to the walled camp at Zuurzak, where they could regain strength before being resold, mostly to Vela de Coro in Falcón, Venezuela, or to Cartagena, Colombia.

Sint Joris and Hato

A letter dated 10 April 1688 from Director Kerckrinck to the West India Company shows that, for lack of space, enslaved people from Zuurzak could also be housed in a reserve camp at Sint Joris. Brenneker writes that "Hato was also used as an entrepôt when Zuurzak was full. Plantation owners could make their choice there: enslaved people from Angola were bought as field workers because of their build, while those from Elmina were chosen as house servants or craftsmen because of their great cleanliness."

The present-day Rio Canario was a large rancho where cattle were bred to supply milk and meat for the slave camp at Sòrsaka.

Production

A privilege for grazing cattle, which existed at the time, shows that Sòrsaka existed as a plantation before 1725. In 1722 there was a good indigo harvest, and Sòrsaka, like the nearby plantations Bottelier, Scherpenheuvel and Janwé, was known as a supplier of well water.

The very productive fruit garden mentioned above, like that of Zuikertuin, was repeatedly plundered by military personnel "until one of the criminals was executed as an example." Later the death penalty was even introduced for stealing fruit from both gardens.

In 1838 Abraham Henriquez owned Sòrsaka. He was one of the few planters who kept records of his plantation's yield. Some books were found with notes on the fruit he had sent to town, and he also kept a cattle-pen book.

The Gorsira family

In its original style, the manor house is one of the oldest on the island. It was renovated several times, for instance by the wealthy Michael Brown Gorsira, who gave the house a romantic touch. He added a swan park with fountains, a swan lake, ornamental ponds, decorations and the well-known bridge in the coastal garden of the estate.

Gorsira was one of the last businessmen from town who bought the estate in the 19th century as a spacious country residence because it was close to town. The year the house was built, 1725, and its rebuilding in 1876 are recorded by Gorsira on a commemorative stone. He moved the entrance, formerly on the east side, to the present west side. The house consists of a central section with a large hall, to which two wings are attached at right angles. This forms a patio with a view to the west.

During the Second World War, American soldiers were stationed on the island. At that time the manor house was occupied by the highest-ranking American officers, who held their parties and receptions here.

The manor house

The manor house sits on a plateau, with the sturdy old wall of the slave camp still standing at the front. The most notable part of it is the two characteristic watchtowers on the south side of the plantation house. They were added to protect the slave camp against attacks by the French and English.

The manor house was drastically restored in 1977. From 1978 to 2010 it served as the official residence of the former governors of Curaçao. It was last restored in 1991, but since October 2010 it has been uninhabited and badly neglected.

Den Dunki

Around the 19th century, plantation Sòrsaka was 140 hectares in size. When the land was subdivided, the old main building and its surroundings were preserved, as was the plantation's coastal garden, which has traditionally been called Den Doenki/Dunki.

The meaning of this word is unknown. Father Brenneker writes in Sambumbu no. 3: "Doenki is a place in the south of the Zuurzak knoek (corner)." Den Dunki would therefore mean "in Doenki/Dunki", but that still doesn't tell us what the word means.

Today it is a nature park. It lies at the end of the rooi (watercourse) that begins near the Santa Rosa roundabout and runs through Skèrpènè (Scherpenheuvel) and Sòrsaka to the inner bay of Jan Tiel. The salt pans of Jan Tiel are also there, once the most important "salt plantation" on Bandariba.

Bres di Sòrsaka

A distinctive feature of Den Dunki is a monumental arched bridge dating from the time of the Gorsira family. This rustic little bridge was possibly built in 1876 with yellow IJssel bricks, which sailing ships carried from the Netherlands as ballast in the 17th and 18th centuries, and with coral stones found on the south coast. The bridge spans a rooi in Sòrsaka, south of the manor house, and was commonly called Bres di Sorsaca.

The name "slave bridge", as it is called in tourist brochures and by tour guides, is misleading: the bridge was only built after the abolition of slavery. In 2015 it was consolidated by the Stichting Maritieme Archeologie Curaçao (Curaçao Maritime Archaeology Foundation).

Since 2010, Den Dunki has been managed by Stichting Uniek Curaçao. It is very popular with walkers, athletes, families and other visitors.

Apart from the areas set aside for the manor house and the nature park, a luxurious villa district has risen on the rest of the former Sòrsaka plantation land.

Locations in and near Sòrsaka

• Tera abou lies in the east of Sòrsaka.
• Klein Zuurzak also lies east of Sòrsaka and south of Scherpenheuvel, popularly called Sòrsaka chikí.
• Wan Pedro is a place in Sòrsaka, south of the little bridge.
• Langa langa lies on the Caracasbaaiweg, northeast of Zuurzak.

From Sambumbu by Father Brenneker:

"Pa Chandi used to hide in a tree at Langa Langa near Sòrsaka. When a woman came walking from town with a full basket of groceries, he would jump out of the tree, take the basket and run off. At their home lay a whole pile of baskets. But one evening he got no dinner because he had accidentally robbed his own wife. And from then on, his robbing days were over."

Sources

• J. Hartog: Curaçao, zijn geschiedenis in het kort (Curaçao, its history in brief)
• D. Huijgers and L. Ezechiëls: Landhuizen van Curaçao en Bonaire (Manor houses of Curaçao and Bonaire)
• P. Brenneker: Sambumbu, various editions
• J. van Ditzhuijzen: Kas di Shon, plantation houses of Curaçao
• M. A. Visman: De geschiedenis van plantage Groot Sint Joris (The history of plantation Groot Sint Joris)
• W. Renkema: Het Curaçaose plantagebedrijf in de 19e eeuw (The Curaçao plantation business in the 19th century)

With thanks to: François van der Hoeven, Frensel Mercelina, Donate Philbert and the Archeologische Werkgroep (Archaeological Working Group).

*See also the upcoming publication Curaçao, Konosé bo isla, part 3, published by Uniek Curaçao, for a detailed route description with sights in Den Dunki.