Commewijne district
Of all the plantations in Suriname, those in Commewijne remained functioning the longest. Today some are still working, but it looks like the good days are over; gradually more are falling into decay, as do the original buildings . Ever since the large bridge across the Suriname river was built, large scale urbanisation of the Commewijne district began, including some gated communities.
The administrative centre New Amsterdam boosts some snappy buildings and the fortress, which has a separate page on this site.
Plantations
The best known (former) plantation is the sugar plantation of Mariënburg (Mariënburg rum!), where the old sugar mill is practically falling apart and one of the staff buildings serves as a museum.
On the right bank there are some plantations that still function well and there is Frederiksdorp which is transformed into a restaurant and guest houses. There is no bridge linking this area to Paramaribo. On the left bank just a few plantations remain, such as Katwijk, Weltevreden and Spieringshoek.
There are quite a few pictures of buildings on plantations during the time that they were still working. At the bottom of this page there is a map that indicates the sites of the erstwhile plantations.
The old days
