Saint Peter and Paul Cathedral, Keizerstraat Mosque and Synagogue Guide

Within four blocks of each other in the UNESCO Historic Inner City of Paramaribo stand two architectural landmarks that define Suriname's cultural identity: the largest wooden building in the Western Hemisphere, crafted inside and out from tropical hardwoods, and a monumental mosque and historic sand-floored synagogue standing side by side on Keizerstraat.

Cathedral-Basilica of Saint Peter and Paul (1883 to 1885)

Rising above the colonial townhouses of Henck Arronstraat (formerly Gravenstraat), the Roman Catholic Cathedral-Basilica of Saint Peter and Paul (Sint-Petrus-en-Pauluskathedraal) occupies the site of a former 1809 Jewish theatre (De Verrezene Phoenix) acquired by the church in 1826. Between 1883 and 1885, Dutch Redemptorist lay brother and carpenter Frans Harmes (1835 to 1894) designed and built the current neo-Gothic and neo-Romanesque cathedral around the old structure, with its twin 44-metre western bell towers completed in 1901.

Measuring 59.1 metres long and 14.6 metres wide, it is the largest wooden building in the Western Hemisphere. While the exterior is painted yellow and grey to protect the timber from rain, stepping inside reveals an interior left completely unpainted: every vaulted rib, gallery arcade, and confessional box is panelled in aromatic Surinamese cedar (Cedrela odorata) supported by greenheart columns. Restored between 2002 and 2010 and elevated to a Minor Basilica by Pope Francis in 2014, the cathedral houses the tomb of Dutch missionary Peerke Donders (1809 to 1887), who cared for leprosy patients at Batavia; check the official basilica site for weekday visiting hours.

Neve Shalom Synagogue (1719 / 1842): White Quartz Sand Underfoot

Five minutes southwest at Keizerstraat 82 stands the Neve Shalom Synagogue ("Oasis of Peace"), the spiritual home of Suriname's Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jewish community, whose presence dates back to the 1630s and the 1685 settlement of Jodensavanne. First built on this lot in 1719, the current neoclassical white wooden synagogue was designed by builder J. F. Halfhide and consecrated between 1837 and 1842.

Step inside to see one of only five surviving sand-floored synagogues in the world: the wooden floor is covered in a thick layer of fine white savanna quartz sand, symbolising both the forty years the Israelites wandered in the desert and the muffled footsteps of Conversos during the Inquisition. Above hang eighteenth-century brass chandeliers and a carved mahogany Torah Ark (Hechal).

Masjid Keizerstraat (1984): Interfaith Harmony on One Block

Directly next door at Keizerstraat 88 rises the white four-minaret Masjid Keizerstraat, headquarters of the Surinaamse Islamitische Vereniging (SIV) and the largest mosque in the Guianas. Founded in 1929 (wooden mosque built 1932) and completed in its current form between 1979 and 1984, the mosque and its neighbouring synagogue lend each other their courtyards and parking lots during Eid and Yom Kippur.