Groot Piscadera

Grőot Piscadera is a neighbourhood of Willemstad, Curaçao, a Lesser Antilles island in the Dutch Caribbean. It is better known as Julianadorp, a villa ward built by Royal Dutch Shell for its employees. Julianadorp is officially part of Groot Piscadera.^[3]

Groot Piscadera Julianadorp
Neighbourhood
Julianadorp (1955)
Groot Piscadera Location in Curaçao
Coordinates: 12.1561°N 68.9668°W / 12.1561; -68.9668
State	Kingdom of the Netherlands
Country	Curaçao
City	Willemstad
Area [1]
• Total	3.46 km2 (1.34 sq mi)
Population  (2011)[2]
• Total	2,822
• Density	820/km2 (2,100/sq mi)

History

Groot Piscadera was a plantation from the late 17th century, and was owned by Dutch West Indies Company. In 1707, the plantation was rented to planters.^[4] In 1928, Groot Piscadera and Klein Hofje were bought by Royal Dutch Shell and used as a water extraction area.^[5] The University of Curaçao was built in Groot Piscadera in the 1970s.^[1]

Julianadorp

Royal Dutch Shell started to bring large numbers of workers, teachers, civil servants and businessmen to Curaçao to work at their oil refinery or provide services for the employees.^[6] In October 1929, 40 houses were constructed in Groot Piscadera.^[7] Between 1945 until 1955,^[7] Julianadorp and Emmastad were constructed as residential neighbourhoods for the employees of Royal Dutch Shell.^[8]

Julianadorp consisted of luxurious villas aligned along the trade winds for ventilation.^[8] It was a segregated and gated community where blacks and coloureds were only allowed entry with a special pass.^[9] In the 1960s, Shell started selling the houses, and by 1985, all houses had become private property.^[7] Julianadorp is no longer gated, and has been integrated in Groot Piscadera.^[10]