Bethesda | |
---|---|
Former leper colony | |
Coordinates: 5°36′44″N 55°03′51″W / 5.6122°N 55.0641°W | |
Country | Suriname |
District | Para District |
Resort (municipality) | Oost |
Bethesda was a Moravian leper colony from 1899[1] until 1933.[2] The name refers to the healing of the paralytic at Bethesda by Jesus. The colony was located near Paranam in the Oost resort on the Suriname River.[3] It was originally located on the former sugar plantation 'Great Chatillon',[4] that already served as a leper colony of the Dutch colonial state.[5] The Catholic leper colony 'Saint Gerardus Majella', founded in 1895 as successor of Batavia, was located nearby.[6][7] In 1933 the Bethesda leper colony moved to Livorno, closer to the centre of Paramaribo, where it functioned as New Bethesda until 1964. Initially patient care at Bethesda was in the hands of German deaconesses. After the Second World War their leadership was taken over by the Dutch and the Surinamese.[8]