Curaçao Museum

The Curaçao Museum is housed in a 19th-century former military hospital at the edge of Otrobanda. The permanent collection covers the island's history from pre-Columbian Arawak settlement through the Dutch colonial period to the modern era, with particular attention to the island's role in Caribbean trade. There is also a collection of traditional Curaçaoan furniture and household objects — the domestic side of the colonial economy, which rarely gets much attention.

The building itself is worth seeing: a long, low, yellow structure with deep verandas on all sides, set in a courtyard with mature trees. The museum is smaller and quieter than it sounds, which is either a recommendation or a warning depending on your taste. Go early in the morning when the light is good.

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A story
The building that houses the Curaçao Museum was constructed in 1853 as a military hospital. During the cholera epidemic of the 1850s it treated hundreds of patients; later it became a quarantine station for incoming sailors. The military left in the 1940s and the building was converted to a museum, preserving both its colonial architecture and the island's layered history.

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