Commanders were the highest authorities on our island, from the mid-17th to the mid-19th century. Aruba fell under the Dutch West India Company from 1636 and remained subordinate to Curaçao until after 1950. Commanders were usually high military commanders, often from the navy, who enjoyed the trust of the Crown and were also appointed by the Crown. The first commanders settled on the coast near Savaneta, at Commanders Bay. The house of the commander was then the only stone house on the island.

No portraits of commanders have been preserved, but several graves have been. The semi-cylindrical and semi-conical shape of these graves from the colonial period, possibly introduced to Curaçao by Sephardic Jews in the 17th century, can be found in several places on the island: in Savaneta, Hato, Sero Patrishi and at the small Jewish cemetery on the former Boerhavestraat (now Caya Frans Figaroa).

In the second half of the 18th century, the bay where the horse trade took place (the Paardenbaai) became a more important place than the Commandeursbaai. The commanders therefore decided to move there and they settled on the hill that offered a good view of the later Oranjestad and the bay. The only tangible evidence of their presence is now the cemetery next to Ponton, locally known as Hato, right next to the school complex of the EPB. This small, full cemetery (13 graves) is the only one that is walled and there are also 5 graves outside the walls.

Here you can find groups of three or four graves on the same base plate (‘plinth’), so they are probably family graves. Any indication of names is missing. The size and height of the graves reflect the status of the deceased. It seems that commander Jan van der Biest II must be buried there. His nameplate was still there until the middle of the previous century, but the graves in general and the sometimes copper nameplates were a grateful object for grave robbers and souvenir hunters. That is why we do not know who is buried there, with one exception. That one exception is the grave of Commander Simon Plats in the cemetery of Sero Patrishi.

It is assumed that the other tombs belonged to among others, families Eman, Croes and Solognier. This cemetery, located south of the Sero Patrishi public housing, is the largest of its kind with 16 graves and 825 m2, has a beautiful iron gate and is partly surrounded by a cactus hedge and a large piece of wall of ‘piedranan di mondi’, stones from the countryside.

In the previous decade, the Monuments Bureau took on the renovation and restoration of these cemeteries, but the graves were often seriously neglected. The ravages of time had seriously affected the fragile construction, holes had fallen in it, the stones used for filling were lying next to it, the roots of trees had done their destructive work and grave robbers had provided the finishing touch. During the restoration, as many original materials as possible were used, such as rubble stones and lime mortar. Finally, the graves are finished with the original whitewash, a material that, however, disappears over the years due to sun and rain. What we call commanders’ graves are generally the graves of prominent citizens (including commanders) from the colonial era and their relatives. More of them are buried there than commanders. Incidentally, a few commanders are also buried in the Protestant cemetery in Oranjestad. There were probably more places on the island with this type of characteristic semicircular grave.

In any case, in Savaneta: on the grounds of the office of the White-Yellow Cross there are two semi-cylindrical graves without any name indication. They were considered commanders’ graves, but they appear to be graves of Savaneta citizens from the 1880’s. 

Commanders’ graves were found north of Savaneta, at Sero Alejandro, but they have been destroyed by construction of houses.

The historic colonial commanders’ graves are an important but vulnerable part of Aruba’s heritage and a special tourist attraction.